Visit Your Friend’s Bookshelf

Sharing is caring!

On your next stay-cation, consider asking a friend of you can visit their bookshelf. Visiting a bookshelf that is not your own is an adventure to behold. Each book is a window to a new world just waiting to be opened and explored. Where will it take you? Who will you meet? What sort of adventure will you have?

Will you explore the reference books? Maybe an encyclopedia so you can explore new countries and see what sorts of things that country is known for producing. What does the flag look like? Do they dress differently than we do? What sorts of foods do they eat?

Maybe you will find a hunk and watch him fall in love with the girl next door. Maybe sail off to some romantic island getaway. If you haven’t been exposed to healthy adult relationships, perhaps you will learn through reading inspirational fiction books what a normal adult relationship could look like.

When you open a book, you can choose to embark on a new fantasy. Perhaps your friend has new books you could borrow if you promise to let them explore your bookshelf too. How does your friend have her book shelf organized? Is it alphabetically by title, or maybe by the author? Perhaps it is sorted by genre or even by publication date. It could be sorted by physical size or even by spine color. Maybe this bookshelf has some titles standing and others stacked horizontally. Your friend may have chosen to display some of the treasures they have collected during their travels around the globe.

Which books do you and your friend both have on your bookshelf? You may find you have many common titles or you could discover that you and your friend have completely different tastes in reading material. After you and your friend have fully explored each other’s bookshelves, you may want to visit the local public library and broaden your horizons.

I usually look for books by authors similar to ones I have already read and know I love. But then when I find a new author I enjoy reading, I tend to read my way through the entire list of all their books owned by the library. The library is one of my favorite resources and the reason I have stayed interested in reading all these years. If I had to buy all the books I read, I would have been able to read a mere fraction of the books I have consumed thus far. Not only do I not have the money to buy every book I read, but I lack the space to store them all. If I had copies of all the books I have read, I would have to spend a significant amount of time dusting all those books. This is time I would much rather spend reading yet another book. While I do like owning books so I can freely loan them out to a friend to read, the library is still a good resource for that because if I can find and borrow the books I want to read, then once I recommend it to a friend, that person can go and check it out for themselves.

Looking through a friend’s bookshelf might help you to discover a new author who will go on to become a new favorite of yours. Sometimes the vast quantities of books at the public library are overwhelming to me and I have trouble deciding which books I want to take home with me to read. So I find exploring the bookshelves of my friends to be a good way to discover things I might not have picked up from a library or book store to read. My friend can tell me a little about the titles that I think sound interesting and help me to make an informed decision on whether I would enjoy reading it or not.

Do you let your friends borrow your books? Have you ever visited your friends’ bookshelves? Did you find some exciting new books to add to your To Be Read List?

Related articles across the web

• The 19 most beautiful libraries in the U.S.
• Indianapolis Public Library hosts “Meet the Artists” Gala
• SF library begins campaign to support unauthorized immigrants
• Library book returned 75 years late, with no fine

Sharing is caring!