Random Thoughts: The Luxury of a Book
Mar 20
The act of reading implies a certain level of luxury in and of itself. It means you have free time. Time to relax. Time to escape reality. Time to devote to something that’s not absolutely necessary.
But what I never really put a lot of thought into was just how lucky I’ve been and what a luxury books truly are. As someone who has always been obsessed with books – except during what I now call my “what was I thinking” period where books and I parted ways – I’ve had a wealth of books at my fingertips.
As a young child I was surrounded by books at home. Many of them my own. And while some of those books may have been borrowed from the library, there was never a shortage of books just waiting to be read.
I had parents who gave me books for my birthday. Parents who bought me books when I was at home sick from school. Parents who believed that reading was much better for the mind than television and so they encouraged my interest in reading.
And as I grew up, I was surrounded by shelves of books of all kinds almost everywhere I went. I had a library in my school that was filled with every possible book a child could want to read – and a few that they might not have cared so much about. I had a library in my town that, while small, still had an abundance of books that were new and exciting to discover.
And in the surrounding towns there were libraries of all sizes. And I had a library card at each and every one of them. I was never left wanting. There was never a wait list on an anticipated read. And if a book just so happened to be checked out at one of the libraries I visited, there was always another one close by that would have that coveted title.
Throughout my life I’ve never seen books as luxuries. They’ve been as necessary to me as air, food, water and love. But from the moment I started my blog my eyes were opened. At first I was mildly surprised, then shocked and then shocked some more. I never realized just how different other book lovers’ experiences have been than mine.
Whether they have come to enjoy reading later in life or were in love with books from the moment they laid eyes on one, it seems that not everyone I’ve met has – or had – the same access to those treasured tomes. I’d always blindly assumed that book lovers were those readers who had unfettered access and those who didn’t enjoy books were those who didn’t.
And I’m not one who’s blind to the differences in the wealth of nations and countries. But yet I never put a great deal of thought into the availability of books in countries as prosperous or more so than the country I reside in.
And my ignorance has not been from a place on high. I did not grow up surrounded by wealth and luxury. My parents were educators, writers, creators, artists. I guess I suppose I’ve been lucky. Lucky to have family who believes that the gift of reading is more valuable than something more fleeting like a video game or a fashion accessory. A book once read can never be unread. Those characters and stories become a reference point to a time in our lives. And while a toy gets broken, a fashion items becomes unfashionable, the love of a story remains.
Now that more and more bookstores have shut their doors I’m starting to see what a world without books is like for others. I took it for granted that all bookstores would be either within walking distance or a short drive away. I took it for granted that those stores that remained would have any current title I’d want to read. And I took it for granted that bookstores were an absolute. Like grocery stores, restaurants and clothing stores.
Many of the readers I have had the privilege to meet online don’t have bookstores near to them. And they don’t have libraries willing to carry every possible “hot” title. And even those who do have access to a bookstore, not all of them have bookstores as filled to the brim with the latest releases as those near to me.
Whether these readers of books reside in the same country as I do, or they live in one at a great distance, to them books are much more of a precious commodity than they had heretofore been to me. But with my newly opened eyes I see that what I once considered a staple, something as necessary to me as the air I breathe, is actually a luxury and one that I shall treat as such. And I will never take these books for granted in all the ways that I have always done.
And I hope with all my heart that for the remains of my days I will have these luxury goods in my life. Always available and always affordable and always something that I can call mine.
But now I’d like to ask you…
How available are the books you love? Are you able to get all the books you want on their release date – whether from the store or the library? Or do you have to wait and hope that the books you desire to read will be available someday soon?
Do you have to request nearly all the books you hope to have access to? Or do they eventually appear at your local store or on your library’s shelves?
And do you consider books a luxury or do they feel as necessary to you as food and shelter, air and water?
7663CGV4PZP4
I’ve always thought of myself as a book lover in the land of book haters, or just people who don’t care. There aren’t exactly any public libraries here, only school libraries and they never carry hot titles. In my teens there was only one bookstore at the local mall. It was a tiny, sad thing with a single bookshelf of teen fiction, and another of fantasy. Yet, I always checked every time I went to the mall to see what new titles they had (not many). Then there were a couple of years when that bookstore closed and the nearest Borders was 3 hours away! Drives to get new books were road trips to be planned with the whole family. And even when they built a Borders at my local mall, they were always out of the titles I wanted.
So, yeah, getting books for me has always been a matter of how much money I have for shipping & handling. I’ve always ordered from Amazon, then later Barnes and Nobles when I found out that they gave me free shipping with order of $25 or more. What I’d always do was save up money and then make an order of the top ten books I’d been dying to read. Believe me when I say, those ten books were never enough.
Since I got a Kindle that has been easier. Books are just a click away. And creating a book blog has opened my eyes to many other genres, and many, many books that would have slipped right past me before. So, yes. Books are a luxury for me, and book blogging is a damn expensive hobby (buying new releases, orchestrating giveaways, etc), but it’s something I need. It’s something that I can always count on to relax, and make me happy.
^___^ Apologies for the long reply!
Don’t apologize! I love long replies. And thank you so much for sharing your book story. Wow, that sounded like a huge endeavor to get to your local store. Amazon is such a huge help, as is B&N for the nook books.
And yes book blogging is incredibly expensive. Still wondering who are these people that say we’re all in it for the free books. I’d like them to take a look at my monthly bank statements to see if they’d change their tune.
Top ten books is never enough, I, too have discovered so many books through blogging. It’s now just a matter of find the time to read them all!
~crying~
I have neither…I have always thought of books and reading as a luxury. My country is a third-world country after all. Almost a 30% or more people here can’t even read.
But yeap…pretty much everyone I’ve known here online via blogs, pages and all the other ways know how the local bookstores hate me T____T There are exactly 2 for the whole country 1 having 2 stores and the other being a bit bigger and having 5. And nope. No libraries for me. My dad and mom have always been avid readers, I guess I got my love of reading from them.
But seriously…I feel like crying whenever I see a post like this. I LOVE books and reading and I really wish we had the chance that many get, just-released books on shelves, libraries for those who can’t afford the ones on sales…hecks I’d take even a place were I can order online without the shipping being so expensive.
And with requests? Yeap…I have been able to read some books thanks to NG and well…All the people I’ve met here through the year are AMAZING people! Including you! I mean how can I forget my very first printed ARC?? ~Supernaturally~ everyone is very supportive of me and believe me I tell you, I DO cry when people give me books, I have a sappy happy huge smile on my face all day when I get approved for a galley, I can’t keep from screaming when I get something in the mail~I didn’t even know we had a post office here lol!~
I part with…
Books/Reading for me are a luxury but at the same time as necessary as my next breath…how I have survived with so few coming here is beyond my comprehension, then again…I have awesome bloggers/online friends
I am lucky enough to have both a fabulous independent bookstore and a B&N here in Boulder, as well as the best library I have ever set foot in (and three more great libraries in a short driving distance). I usually don’t care about getting a book on its release date, unless it’s something I’ve been dying to read (Insurgent, for instance), but both bookstores here seem to always have the newest titles, and even if there are waiting lists for the most popular new titles at the library, they always get the books I want.
Growing up in Norway it was a little different, in that I still had bookstores around me (3 in my tiny home town of 12,000 people), but that the libraries were horrible. Libraries in Norway seem to be “only” for old people, and so they stock up on classics, on translated titles and the latest mysteries, but there was no such thing as Teen section, and books in English were impossible to find. As a kid I would always just read whatever was available – I could find something interesting on any bookshelf, and as a result I ended up having read everything from Stephen King to Jane Austen before I turned thirteen. After that I started reading more in English, and with that came ordering books online. Luckily my mom is a huge reader, so she never saw anything wrong with me spending my whole allowance on books:)
And no, I have never really considered books a luxury. Luxuries to me are things like expensive restaurant meals, clothes not purchased at Forever21, electronics etc: all things I can go without for as long as necessary. Take away books though, and I really don’t know what I would do with myself.
You know how it is here, no libraries and the only bookstore is actually a big chain with 8 stores just in the city with the option of shipping to rest of the country, big and fancy stores but they basically suck…they have loads of books but they are very focused on Latin American authors and spanish translations, which I refuse to read because they are not the same.
What I think is the original problem is that people don’t read, so there is no demand, therefore there is no supply. I can’t even request for something, it’s really sad.
And of course there is always the option to buy online from Amazon or Book Depository but I don’t have a job, so that means no money and no credit/debit card. So it’s actually not an option in my case haha. Plus, customs: a real pain!
To answer your question, books are really a luxury in this country, not only because I can’t find them but they are very expensive too, it’s weird find a book under $20.
I’ve learned to settle with the books I win once in a while.
But I hope someday I can buy books like candies haha…with the expensive shipping, taxes and all that.
For me, books are a necessary luxury. I fully recognize that I spend WAY too much money on them (especially now that I have a Nook), but it does feel like I need books to live much the same way I need air, water, or food. Books are integral to my life and lifestyle.
Yes, that makes me a big ole nerd. But I wave that nerd flag proudly.
I love books. They are a massive luxury to me. If someone wants something done then all the need to do is dangle a book in front of me. But I can’t always get the ones I want.
I’m from Australia so we don’t always get the books as they are released in places like the US and UK. It all depends on if an Australian publisher has bought the rights to publish an Australian edition of the book.
We do have specialty bookstores that order their books from America though they are all an hours drive/train ride away.
In my suburb there is not one bookstore. The closest is about a 15 – 20 minutes drive. And then the selection isn’t that great, especially for the genres I like to read. As for libraries, I am lucky enough to have 3 close by with one of those that has multiple branches. As to the books. There is a big selection but they arn’t all books I like. Out of all the new releases that I am dying to read, my libraries will only probably get 1/10 of them. And then it will take them 3 months to process the book before making it available. Plus the long waiting line. I’ve seen a book with 16 reservations.
If I want a book desperatly then I buy from the Book Depository.