Bibliophilia

Hello, my name is Estelle and I’m a bibliophile.

Now, all you fellow bookworms out there say, “Hello, Estelle.”

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a bibliophile as a lover or collector of books. I think “love” might be putting it mildly. For me, it’s more of an obsession.

Years ago (in my former life as an English teacher) I went to a workshop on teaching writing, and the attendees were given the classic paragraph assignment: Describe your bedroom.

The fact that this is a silly assignment for either students or teachers aside, I had a sort of revelation while completing it. I started with the bookshelves—two six foot shelves, and two smaller three foot shelves on either side of the bed, all brimming. Then I moved on to the piles of books on the floor—the mini towers that the cat constantly knocks over. Last, I described the heaps of books on the empty side of my double bed (I was—and still am—single). Yes, I sleep with my books. I realized there was probably something Freudian (and therefore disturbing) in the fact that my bed companion was (and still is) a pile of books. Then the timer went off, ending the exercise, and I happily quit thinking about it.

I do love books though. I love to look at them, smell them, hold them. It’s a comfort to have a book in my hand. If I have extra cash, I want to spend it on books. If I have time to kill in town, I want to spend it at the bookstore. A dream vacation for me would be to travel across the country visiting all the unique and hole-in-the-wall bookstores I could find. Unfortunately, it would be a short vacation because I’d spend all my money after the first few stops.

My biggest pet peeves are book related, too. I don’t dog-ear. Ever. I don’t crack open spines. Chills go down my own spine when I see someone do that. I consider it an accomplishment for the book to look pristine and unread when I’m finished with it. I also have issues with price stickers. If there’s a sticker plastered on the book, I have to remove it as soon as I’m out of the store before the heat can seal it on forever. It’s one of those things that shouldn’t matter, but it does—I want the stickers removed. And if you wait too long to take it off, the residue is there forever and even Goo-Gone won’t truly take care of the problem. I told you—it’s an obsession.

My to-be-read pile resembles a small mountain, and it has a little bit of everything in it—I’ll give you a glimpse.

At the top is Lisa Kleypas’s Smooth Talking Stranger. I recently read Sugar Daddy and Blue Eyed Devil by her and LOVED them. I picked up A Hint of Wicked by fellow Romance Diva, Jennifer Haymore the other day. On the spicier side, I recently discovered Bella Andre’s erotic romances and have Red Hot Reunion in the stack. Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees and Prodigal Summer are there—The Poisonwood Bible was the best piece of literary fiction I’ve read in ages. The Chosen by Chaim Potok is there because a friend recommended it. Amanda Quick’s The Perfect Poison is there because I’m addicted to the Arcane Society books. Toward the end of the month when Suzanne Brockmann’s newest Troubleshooters book comes out, it will go to the top of the pile, although I may have to fight my mother for who gets it first. I have Donald Maas’s The Fire in Fiction in there too. And tons more. I never get ahead of the stack. I wouldn’t want to. Where’s the fun in that?

When people ask me what my favorite book is, I usually can’t give just one answer. I love so many of them. I have lists of favorites on my website, and I have a Shelfari shelf of what I’m currently reading on my blog, but I’m constantly reading new books and gaining new favorites.

It’s so hard to stay committed to just one. (Don’t get all Freudian with that.)

It turns out that I get to pick the theme for July here at The Write Direction, so I hereby officially declare it In Love with Books Month.

Let’s celebrate with a CONTEST! I’ll take a few romance books off my shelves to make room for new ones. I’m gritting my teeth at the thought of parting with them, but it’s a little easier when I know they’re going to someone who will love them like I do. Only bibliophiles need apply.

If you’re a true book lover, then comment on this post and tell me about your love of books. Which are your favorites? What’s in your to be read pile?

Then come back to The Write Direction throughout the month of July and comment on other July posts. At the end of the month, I’ll randomly select four commenters who will each get a new (new to you–and in good condition, though maybe not pristine because some of these may have found their way to me via the used book store) book to love.

I’ll post an additional book for the contest each week.  The first one is Make Me Yours by Betina Krahn.