knows the plot of every classic novel even if they haven’t read it, deep lit quote in their “about” section, annotates books for fun, bad eyesight, brings a book with them “just in case”, stares at their bookshelf for long stretches of time, indie coffee shops, talks about deceased writers like they know them personally, has a list of famous literary sights they want to see, instrumental and indie folk music, uses vague lit quotes in everyday conversation, posts pictures of the book they’re currently reading next to a cup of coffee or tea on instagram, oversized cardigans, big sweaters, wing tip shoes, “is there a used bookstore around here?”
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lit meme » ten books or series » the shades of magic series by v.e. schwab
Pure magic has no self. It simply is, a force of nature, the blood of our world, the marrow of our bones. We give it shape, but we must never give it soul.
Sections in the bookstore
- Books You Haven’t Read
- Books You Needn’t Read
- Books Made for Purposes Other Than Reading
- Books Read Even Before You Open Them Since They Belong to the Category of Books Read Before Being Written
- Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered
- Books You Mean to Read But There Are Others You Must Read First
- Books Too Expensive Now and You’ll Wait ‘Til They’re Remaindered
- Books ditto When They Come Out in Paperback
- Books You Can Borrow from Somebody
- Books That Everybody’s Read So It’s As If You Had Read Them, Too
- Books You’ve Been Planning to Read for Ages
- Books You’ve Been Hunting for Years Without Success
- Books Dealing with Something You’re Working on at the Moment
- Books You Want to Own So They’ll Be Handy Just in Case
- Books You Could Put Aside Maybe to Read This Summer
- Books You Need to Go with Other Books on Your Shelves
- Books That Fill You with Sudden, Inexplicable Curiosity, Not Easily Justified
- Books Read Long Ago Which It’s Now Time to Re-read
- Books You’ve Always Pretended to Have Read and Now It’s Time to Sit Down and Really Read Them”
Does the way we acquire books have an impact on the way we read them? A lot has been written about the sentimentality surrounding books; cherished books from childhood, books given as love tokens, handed down from our parents, to our own children, the books that we would save from fires, and launch into space for aliens to read. But what about the sad stories? The books abandoned on park benches, collections inherited from a decreased friend, those sold off by libraries because no one wanted to read them, and the books that we scavenge when bookshops go bust?
We are the people of the book. We love our books. We fill our houses with books. We treasure books we inherit from our parents, and we cherish the idea of passing those books on to our children. Indeed, how many of us started reading with a beloved book that belonged to one of our parents? We force worthy books on our friends, and we insist that they read them. We even feel a weird kinship for the people we see on buses or airplanes reading our books, the books that we claim. If anyone tries to take away our books—some oppressive government, some censor gone off the rails—we would defend them with everything that we have. We know our tribespeople when we visit their homes because every wall is lined with books. There are teetering piles of books beside the bed and on the floor; there are masses of swollen paperbacks in the bathroom. Our books are us. They are our outboard memory banks and they contain the moral, intellectual, and imaginative influences that make us the people we are today.
You may be a book addict if...
- 1: You spend a lot of money on books. Even at thrift stores and used book stores. You can never get enough.
- 2: You have bookcases, shelves, or stacks of books EVERYWHERE.
- 3: Most of those shelves are warped from the weight of all of your books.
- 4: You can never pass a bookstore or a store with a selection of books without having just. one. glimpse. inside. ("Just one, I swear!")
- 5: People give you books or giftcards to bookstores as gifts for special events.
- 6: You ALWAYS have a book with you. Even if it is a huge hardcover edition.
- 7: You can never stop talking about books. Ever.
- 8: You occasionally say, "Oh, that movie looks interesting! Better read the book first, since it's probably even better!" Or some variation of that.
- 9: You proudly show off the fact that you read an incredibly difficult book that not a lot of people have read. Be proud!
- 10: Your parents have told you to do something social... maybe go outside, see the sun, smell fresh air.
- 11: You have mastered the "don't-talk-to-me-or-else-you're-dead-to-me" look for people who have boundary issues when you're reading.
- 12: Sarcasm is occasionally your friend when people say obnoxious things about you reading so much.
- 13: You salivate over pictures of books. It's okay, we all do it.
- 14: You can't browse the deals section of a cheap book website because you know you can't really afford it, but you'll shop anyway.
- 15: One of your goals in life is to have a personal library in your home when you have your own house.
- 16: The smell of new books, or old books, is something you look forward to.
- 17: You always take a step back after putting your book haul away and stare at your growing book collection.
- 18: You basically live at the library, bookstore, or secondhand bookstore closest to your home.
- 19: You want to marry a book lover, too.
- 20: You occasionally break into emotional hysterics when reading a really intense book in public.
- 21: You ask yourself: physical books or ebooks?
- 22: You need to place a book buying ban on yourself.
- 23: You know your favorite bookstore better than some of the employees.
- Have any more? Feel free to add!
One of my biggest regrets is not keeping a record of all the books I read when I was younger because I’ll never know the true number of books I’ve read and I’ll never remember the books that shaped my into the person I am today
In Iceland, books are exchanged on Christmas Eve, and you spend the rest of the night reading. People generally take their books to bed along with some chocolate. How cozy and wonderful does that sound?
(More fun facts: Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country, and new books are typically published only during the Christmas season—the frenzy is called Jólabókaflóð, or the Christmas Book Flood.)
- Me: I WANT TO BUY ALL THE BOOKS!!!!!!!
- Reality: But you can't afford all the books.
- Publishers: We're going to keep releasing books.
- Authors: And we're going to keep writing awesome books.
- Reality: Which you can't afford.
- Reality: :)
