Collection

Despite my avid love for books and the acquisition thereof, I wouldn’t exactly classify myself as a ‘book collector’ in the prevalent sense of the term. I do enjoy owning books, and appreciate their aesthetic quality and value as objects, but I don’t hunt them down in the manner of, say, Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone.

I’ve mentioned this couple before (see “Little Books, Big Joy”) and today’s title, Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in Booklore, is their second bibliomemoir. I must confess that I liked the other two better (Used and Rare and Warmly Inscribed), but that’s not to say that I didn’t think this one worthwhile. I pretty much take pleasure in whatever the Goldstones write, about books or anything else. They give the reader a nice combination of anecdote, history, book biz information, literary tidbit and travelogue, and they know their writers.

It was completely unplanned that the second title I read today was Objects of Our Desire: Exploring Our Intimate Connections with the Things Around Us by Salman Akhtar. I didn’t even notice the day’s collecting theme until I set down in front of my laptop. My subconscious seems to be speaking to me again. Perhaps it wants me to visit a bookstore soon.

This book brought up some interesting points to think about in terms of our relationship with objects, and the kinds of things that appeal to different people. The author, a psychiatrist, addresses everything from nostalgia to clutter. He could have left out the female body chapter (it seemed out of place), but overall, this title is worth taking a gander at, especially if you like ‘stuff’. For the record, I sure do.