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What your books say about you

Have you ever gone over to someone’s house and snooped through their bookshelves? (of course you have, admit it! You’re a reader). Do you ever make assumptions about your friends, acquaintances, and boyfriends/girlfriends by what’s on their bookshelves? I admit that I do. I also wonder what my friends think of me when they come over to my apartment and see all my books lined up (sorted alphabetically for easy reference). I read here that a person’s bookshelves say a lot about them as a person. Although it deals primarily with dating, I think that the same principles can be applied to pretty much everybody who reads or doesn't. Each book on my shelf has a certain significance to me. According to the article, my interest in fiction means I “tend to claim that that there is more truth, beauty, and understanding about the world and human psyche can be derived from make-beliefs.” Some people claim that all of this is bunk; but I believe that in some respects this assessment is true.
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beastmomma said…
I think there is some truth to it, especially in regard to volumes of books. If there are a lot of books that indicates the person is a book lover. If books are sparse, the person may still like to read (by getting books from the library), but not want to spend money on books which is something that I do too much.
May 14, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Anonymous said…
I'm not sure I'd want to be judeged by my bookshelf. When I was in graduate school for psychology, my mom bought me all kinds of self-help books. Of course, I keep them for reference :>
May 14, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Terri B. said…
I LOVE looking at other's bookshelves. I try not to judge too much by what I see there since I know that someone could come up with some pretty odd ideas about me when looking at mine!
May 14, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Anonymous said…
Hehehe...I *always* snoop into someone's bookshelf if he/she has one! I'm so nosy about what people are "feeding" themselves with--tabloids? history books? literature? pop fiction? Someone who walks into the cafe with a book always piques my interest.
May 14, 2008 at 10:43 PM
Anonymous said…
I love looking at people's bookshelves! Nothing better than walking into a room with tons of books and seeing what they like to read.
May 15, 2008 at 2:51 AM
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