- Books are like jeans - when you find the perfect book buy it when you first see it, you don't know when you'll ever come across it again.
- Don't worry about multiple copies, I currently own three copies of The Great Gatsby, and I already plan on buying two more. Books are meant to be beautiful, so if you like multiple covers, or there's a special edition you really want, get it because you'll regret not buying it more.
- Don't buy small copies of thick books - the smaller the pages, the more pages they have to put in and then you're just asking to have the spine broken the first time you open it.
- Never judge a book solely by its cover: take a look in side and consider the composition of the chapters (do they immediately run on from the last or does each new chapter take a new page?), what is the for like?, are the margins too small?, is everything cramped?, is everything too big?
- JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER - Don't a buy a book whose cover you don't like. I always feel that I'm less likely to enjoy a book if it has an ugly cover, no matter how good the story is.The same with it's composition and formatting. Shop around, older books often have many versions to choose from.
- If you have a lot of books in mind to buy make an organised list. Carry it with you and when you enter a bookshop you won't stand in front of the shelves like an overwhelmed, lost, little puppy.
- There is some merit in reading the books everyone else is reading, but don't feel obliged to. If you don't enjoy, say, the Harry Potter Series, don't feel like you have to go and buy them all because everyone else has. Buy books you love, or know you will just adore if you haven't read them already, and you'll treasure them all the more.
- Don't rush. Unless you have something particular in mind, don't go book shopping if you're short on time. You need to be able to wander at your leisure and go back and forth and explore.
- Buy hardcovers where you can, though still obey the aesthetic principles above. Hardcovers last longer and are generally prettier.
- Explore secondhand bookshops - you'll find the most amazing things there. Books with huge amounts of history, interesting little inscriptions, old out of print books... And because there's generally no method to their madness the possibilities are endless.
oct 23 2012 ∞
oct 23 2012 +