My friend John was asking me about this ancient post, “Books are our friends” that I did way back in 2009 for the then-blog of publisher Biblioasis. After some digging, I found the site still exists but it now auto-redirects to the new and shiny Biblioasis site, so you can’t really read the content. A darn shame, as this is definitely one of the cutest things I’ve ever done for the internet–witness someone asking me about it 8 years later. So I rescued the content and put it here, for the good of all. Enjoy.
Hey, I’m Rebecca Rosenblum, Biblioasis author and now occasional Thirsty guest-poster. Amazingly enough, my invitation to write some posts here came just a week after the only post on this blog that I have ever violently disagreed with. I scrolled through the
Bibliorgy photos while peeking between the fingers of my non-scrolling hand, brain twitching.
Books don’t go on the floor, yo–not if it can possibly be avoided. Books certainly don’t go on a dirty warehouse floor in heaps that look dumped out of a truck and scattered so that they could be stepped on or… (gasp) kicked.
No. No no no no.
Books are our friends–we must treat them as well as we are able (and not kick them). You know this, I’m sure, since you’re reading a publisher’s blog after all. Just in case, though, I thought it might help if I offered a little refresher on the Dos and Don’ts of book-loving. Even if you know all this stuff, maybe you know someone who isn’t quite sure…pass it on!!
Books Are Our Friends
Books are not a game.
Incorrect: Building a big messy stack of fiction, poetry and reference books for “fun.”
Correct: Playing Jenga.
Books are not a fashion accessory.
Incorrect: Chekov hat.
Correct: Patent-leather clutch.
Books are not a step up.
Incorrect: Standing on style-guides.
Correct: Befriending the tall.
Books are not weapons.
Incorrect: Violent backhand motion with Russian classics.
Correct: Violent downward stabbing motion with fork and/or scissors.
All this is not to say that books are delicate, needing to be preserved carefully away from human hands. Books are friends, meant to be our companions, read, loved and embraced.
Sometimes a spine gets broken in the excitement.
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, bad things happen to good books.
But that’s ok–books are there to be read, and if we can help them fulfill that destiny, the occasional incident is, well…incidental. Following these simple tips will help you keep your books mainly free of dirt, bugs, hairspray and blood, but the only reason you’d want them that way is to read them. Read books!
Rebecca
PS–Megathanks to CanLit’s Next Top Models: Scott, Wren, Jamie, Angela, Jane, Megan, David, Jordana, Ananda, Chuck, Michael, Anton and Leo.
Lol. I see why this is a classic!
November 27th, 2017 at 10:34 amThanks, Emily!
December 5th, 2017 at 11:58 amLeave a Reply