Bookstores and Will Power

Posted by Melissa Howard May 28, 2008

“A good bookshop is just a genteel black hole that knows how to read." Terry Pratchet

My husband and father are both deeply enthralled with a certain fantasy writer (not the one whose quote you see). As a result, every time my Dad visits, they make a run to Uncle Hugo’s and eccentric and truly wonderful bookstore near us that specalizes in science fiction/fantasy books.

“Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?" Henry Ward Beecher

My parents visited on Memorial Day weekend and so they took a run to Hugo’s on Saturday. When they returned Dad disappeared. My Mom asked my husband if he was hiding how much he had spent. My husband happily reported that my father had only spent forty dollars this time. My father was deeply dissapointed in my husband for undermining his position.

"book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. it is not a hobby. those who do it must do it. those who do not do it, think of it as a cousin of stamp collecting, a sister of the trophy cabinet, bastard of a sound bank account and a weak mind." Jeanette Winterson

Bookstores are a tantalizing temptation for a book lover. Every book can be justified if you are a book lover. Books have inherent value and therefore buying them is an acceptable expenditure, if you are a book lover. As a result, bibliophiles can justify buying books that they know they will never read simply because...

If you love a bibliophile, you might be wise to do as my husband does. He drags me away from bookstores.