Confessions of a Book Mangler

I have a confession to make, I mangle the physical books I read. If I really love a book or series I may buy two copies. That is why I have hardbacks and paperbacks of the entire Harry Potter series. I also have both the American and the British versions which have all been read once on the day they came out and since then I have only read the paperbacks which are well loved and mangled.

Fewer physical books are now endangered due to my owning a Kindle which just lets me get finger prints all over the screen and does not allow the turning down of pages or the breaking of backs of books which is almost always the first thing that happens when I love a book. Unless I have borrowed it then I treat it with care and by it on my own if I need to, then I can mangle it.

I’ve been trying to replace my well loved books with Kindle books but that isn’t always possible since some authors don’t like Amazon or they are old and mostly out of print like Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. A book that is definitely of its period but it still funnier than hell since it’s post WWI. And if it was on Kindle I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

I’m sorry but Kindles do win on things like being able to make the type bigger and to change the brightness of the page. I would have been in trouble if I’d had one as a kid because I wouldn’t have needed a flashlight under the covers.

I see nothing wrong with mangling a book you truly love and that you own. It makes them real like the Velveteen Rabbit.

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