the book abuser and book preserver: a love story

(I couldn't find a picture on my phone of the hubs with a book...boo!)

My husband and I both love books.  We love reading, we love bookshelves, we love getting lost in stories.  We look forward to building a home with lots of bookshelves and teaching our children that amazing feeling of opening a book and having your universe changed.  It's a wonderful thing to have a spouse who also loves books.  However, when we first got married and were moving into my parent's unfinished basement apartment (the one we still live in, however we have more bookshelves now and better system) we were unpacking our books and my husband just about had a heart attack while going through my book boxes.  My books had dog eared corners, the spines were cracked, a few had covers taped onto the book.  He was pretty surprised when he exclaimed, "Do you not take care of your books?!"

I was pretty much shocked.  Seriously, didn't everyone's books look like that?!  How do you read a book without it getting worn?!  My thoughts were, "If you read a book over and over, it's going to wear.  But that's what makes it amazing!"  Yeah, JD thought a little differently.

At this point I was bound and determined to prove him wrong.  I said we should open up his book boxes and check out what terrible shape I was sure his novels would all be in.  Yeah...I was even more shocked when I found his books were in incredible shape.  No dog ears, no pages falling out, spines barely had cracks in them.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  "Do you ever even read these books?!" I blurted out.  His response was along the lines of, "Do you ever even care about the condition of your books?!"

To be honest, it took us a while to understand each of our book loving techniques.  I love to read and mark and love and devour every word to the point that the book looks nothing like when it was purchased.  I want to enjoy every little detail and mark and tab all of the pages and parts I enjoy.  JD loves to read and enjoy the books without ruining it.  He loves to preserve books, which is part of why we have so many antique books and are in pristine condition.  He sees books as invaluable and necessary to preserve for our someday children.

In life, you find that compromises are essential.  Whether it be with a professor, a spouse or a co-worker, sometimes you have to see that you won't always get your way.  Sorry to break that to you this way.  JD and I made a compromise that day.  I'm not as rough with books (Meaning I'm not dog ear-ing corners or ripping covers.  However, I still mark them and highlight because, duh), he's not as strict about his books (Meaning he won't have an aneurysm if there are highlighter marks or notes in the margins of our collection.  He now says it gives them "character," which really means he understands the saying, "happy wife, happy life.").  So, compromise makes life much easier.  Even over silly stuff.  Just an FYI for ya'll.

Peace out bloggers!

(Because I never got over the "peace out" thing that ended around 6th grade.  Deal with it.)

(P.S. This book = AWESOME!  Totally practical guide to just being a little bit happier.  I love it.  You should check it out.)