Don't get me wrong - I'm not ashamed of the books that are displayed on my shelf. They may not be prestigious, but I don't believe in "guilty pleasure reads". It's the volume that embarrasses me. It implies that I'm uncultured, inattentive, or worst of all - boring. I don't think a lack of reading material implies stupidity, as there are many forms of intelligence that have nothing to do with literature, but it's still not a good look.
Take, for instance, my good friend Bradley. Bradley had about 430 books*. This is an easy number to estimate, because he gave me his three bookshelves when he moved states, and my entire book collection takes up one fourth of one bookshelf.
Yes, fellow math-inclined friends. I own exactly 36 books. I'm at peace with being one-twelfth as pretty as Marilyn Monroe, but I'm not so comfortable with the idea of being one-twelfth as well-read as her. Or anyone, except maybe professors of literature or writers themselves.
What am I using the other eleven-twelfths of my bookshelves for? Vinyl records, video games, glamour magazines, DVDs, figurines, sentimental gifts, and...
Mid-century modern reproduction purses.
*He's down to about 330 books now, because the USPS lost three boxes' worth of his books when he moved, and replaced them with cookbooks and bibles. Viva la USPS!
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