I was looking at my overly stocked book shelves the other day and realised just how many of my books I have not yet touched. I have always been fan of a bookcase in my house. It looks appealing and is an instant hit with guests as you ponder over reads you have shared. I did wonder however, if I was alone in this. Am I so far behind in my night time reading that if someone did ask me about a book on my shelf chances are I would not have read it? I am not sure if we do this with DVDs, I certainly only have a few that I have bought and not yet watched, however I will have always watched it at the cinema or seen it somewhere before. DVDs are, as we all know less of an investment of time, however the more we read the quicker we become and therefore the faster we will get through books. I began to look through them to pick one to read of that night, but of them all I went back to the one that is on my nightstand.
Do we have lots of books to appear to be something other than what we actually are? Do you like it when someone thinks you are well read? I do. As a woman I appreciate the different colours of the spines and the eclectic tastes of the genres, but this is obviously not enough to make me read something new. Yet I keep buying books, if I see one of my favourite genre on the internet I will buy it, put it on the shelf and then leave it for another six months until I have read the one I am currently tackling. Is it that books have the same appeal as clothes when we are shopping, we just have to have it even if we won’t read it for ages, just to say we have it?
Maybe I am alone in this phenomenon, or maybe not. I decided to ask my colleagues and found that I am not as strange as I thought. One had bought the Great Gatsby in order to read it before the film comes out, however has not read it yet, however the film coming out in December, so she still has time.
Another had Dr Zhivago and Catch 22 as he thought he would be viewed differently by visitors if he had hard core Russian literature on his shelf. He also believed that if you have a mix on your shelf of contemporary fiction and classics it shows a more adaptable reading style and then may indicate that you are more intelligent.
There is a certain stigma with books such as Fifty Shades of Grey and how other people may see you after realising that it is your desired text. People may think that you have been caught up in the craze and reading it because everyone else is. You are therefore immediately thought to not read anything else. A one hit wonder to fit in. Is this why there have been more e-book versions of Fifty Shades than paper copies?
Covers must be an important factor given that Harry Potter was released with an adult cover and a children’s cover. Are we embarrassed to be seen with some books rather than others? Books that are designed for young adults or children perhaps hold a stigma when being read by adults. One of my colleagues was teased about reading supernatural fiction on a plane while her ride buddy read a comprehensive psychological study of sleep. If she is enjoying it what’s the harm?
Should we be judged by what we read? Is it that important in the scheme of things? If our coffee table was scattered with magazines, does that mean we hate reading books, of have a keen interest in fashion? Why do we need to hide FHM if we have guests even if it is not ours? Why are we so preoccupied with what others think, when reading is such an enjoyable experience? Surely it just matters that we are reading at all.
If i have Poe and Rowling on my shelf, who gives a damn? And as for the ones sat on my shelf, I will get around to reading, but I won’t feel as bad that they are there anymore!
Female First Lucy Walton
by Lucy Walton
find me on 
and follow me on 
