Book geek/snob/nazi status

Some of you may be wondering how I can possibly self declare as a book geek and snob, and what those two titles entail. How does one become a Book Geek, Snob, or Nazi... well I will enlighten you right now.

I developed all of these traits from working in bookstores, no word of a lie. Although, I can say that I was predestined to become a Book Geek/Snob/Nazi from a young age. I do remember not ever wanting to read books that had water damage, or torn pages, or the like. This is where the book nazi title comes in.

Anyone who has ever seen my book collection, or attempted to borrow books from me knows what I mean when I say I am a Book Nazi. Every single book I own is in absolute mint condition. If I were to walk into any bookstore in the city and say "I bought this book yesterday" I don't think anyone would question me. The spines of my books are not cracked or bent. The covers do not curl. The pages are not dogeared. The only thing that may give me away is sometimes, depending on the publisher of the book, the edges of the pages change to a slightly yellow colour, this I can do nothing about, but if I could, I would. During my internship I was taking middle-year aged books to school to read during silent reading time and one time I didn't close my juice the whole way and a book got a little bit wet. I went out and bought another copy. THIS is the tale of a Book Nazi.  I have also considered making a waiver for people to sign if they borrow my books. On the waiver it would include that while not being read, the book is to remain in a plastic bag to avoid any unforeseen water damage, and that bag must be a small McNally plastic bag, because they fit trade paperback books perfectly to prevent bending. I have never had to create this waiver, because if anyone says that they are interested in reading a particular title, and I say that I have it, they get this look of horror on their face, like I am saying that if they give me their first born child as collateral I will let them borrow a book. Very few people borrow books from me. But the ones that do know that they are expected to replace any books they damage, but that has yet to happen. This can be rooted to the bookstore environment as well because in order to return books to the publisher, they must be in mint condition (unless they are strip covers, which is a whole other matter), so even though I have NO intention of EVER returning any of my books, I like to know that they are SO pristine that even the publishers would take them back... plus you never know when a book might be worth a million dollars as a collectable in the future.

The Book Snob title comes from my choice of reading material. I LOVE to discover books. By that I mean find a title that no one has ever mentioned to me, that I have not heard of from any other source, purchase it and tell people about it after I read it. What better place to do this than while at work in a bookstore? It's still technically work if I am shelving books and turn to the back cover to see if I would read them. I do not read book club books ever. If a movie based on a book is coming out, I will read it, but NEVER the movie-tie-in cover. If that is the only cover available, I won't read it... and I probably won't go to the movie either. I might read a title if the person that recommends it to me is also a book snob, like Lyndon or Nicole, but very few people are like them. I think this comes from not wanting to buy into a fad. So many books that become huge are just crap *coughDaVinciCodecough*, and I am snobby enough to think I am above that. I also like to claim that I am the reason a book gets popular if I read it first. Like The Other Boleyn Girl. I made that book popular and it got made in to a movie for chrissake! How awesome am I? Pretty awesome, I'd say.

Ok, and the Book Geek title is a little more self explanatory. When people talk about books, I get excited. Even if they talk about the crappy ones, I like to explain why I think they are crappy. If someone says "I loved The DaVinci Code" I am ALL OVER telling them how stupid that book is. Honestly, one of the worst books I have ever read (sorry, slight tangent). Anyway, I LOVE to talk books. Sometimes even books I haven't read, because if you like a book, and tell me why, I might be able to recommend another one, and that goes back into my Book Snob title. And you can also see how that ties into bookstore employment.

See! It's all interconnected. And it all started with bookstores. I LOVE bookstores. :)

P.S. Sorry, apparently these posts aren't getting shorter any time soon. I honestly thought I could keep this one short. My bad. Hope you aren't bored to tears.

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So far, I have only posted books that are Fiction. I am a typical female reader insofar as that I prefer fiction to non-fiction. HOWEVER, I do read a lot of non-fiction as well. The book Columbine by Dave Cullen, I believe was in the History & Politics section of McNally, I *think* the subsection was something like "Contemporary American History" or something like that. The Columbine Highschool massacre was and event that hit very close to home when I was in Highschool. It was shocking to hear about kids my age killing other kids my age, in an environment that was similar to my every day environment. It's something I think about often, even today. I bought this book in Hardcover, the most expensive format, because I couldn't wait for the trade paperback, and I rarely buy books in Hardcover because I am too cheap, I don't like how heavy they are, and I don't generally mind waiting. So that's saying something for this book...

Ten years in the making and a masterpiece of reportage, "Columbine" is an award-winning journalist's definitive account of one of the most shocking massacres in American history.

It is driven by two questions: what drove these killers, and what did they do to this town?

This is an extremely enlightening read about the events of the Columbine Highschool Massacre and the effect this horror had on the community, the country and the world. This book fills you in on what the facts behind the incident actually were, not just what the media presented to the public at the time. A must read for those who want to know the true story, not the rumours that the media created.