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Book-friends and book-best-friends

This is going to sound weird, but if you’re a Reader, you’ll totally understand where I’m coming from.

When you read a good book, that book becomes your friend.

It’s totally strange and maybe even a bit psychologically deviant but it’s true. That book becomes like your closest friend, someone you’re spending time with and loving the conversation.

I will admit, I have sometimes loved a book so much I will hug it like I’m hugging a person. There, I have confessed my mental disturbance to all the blogosphere.

But those of you who are Readers will completely get me.

You devour books by favorite authors because you became good friends with one of her titles, and you hope to find new friends in her other titles. Your chances are good since you already loved one of her stories.

You’re always on the lookout for a new friend. Some books disappoint, but then suddenly you’ll stumble on a book (which might not even have that great a cover or back cover blurb) and you’re caught in an amazing story with amazing characters and you know you’ve found a friend.

Some of my books are book-friends, but some are book-best-friends. They’re the ones I’ll keep because I could see myself rereading them, they were that good.

I was thinking today about why some books are book-friends and why some are book-best-friends. My book-friends are still highly entertaining, enthralling reads. I just finished one yesterday. But it wasn’t a book-best-friend.

I think that for my book-best-friends, there is something about the characters that I especially love. I relate to them on a deeper level, or perhaps I admire them greatly. Their stories move me deep in my gut rather than just being an entertaining read.

I love my book-friends, but I am also constantly on the lookout for a new book-best-friend. I also do not limit the number of book-best-friends that I have, the more the merrier, in my opinion. But since my shelves are overflowing, I have gotten some book-best-friends as ebooks and given away my print copies so that my book-best-friends take up less real estate in my house.

So my blog friends, do you feel me? I know some of you non-Readers are going to tell me to hie to a psychologist, but you Readers know what I’m talking about. What are some book-best-friends you’ve got?
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Comments

Susan F. said…
I totally understand this! Some of my very best friends have even been given precious reading time for another read. That is big with me. Only the very best-book-friend can ever get read more than once. :) I've read "The Grapes of Wrath" twice and hope to get to at least one more time.
Wed Apr 25, 12:10:00 PM 2012
minky said…
I totally understand. I have books you can't pay me to get rid of..I've read and re-read them because something in them touches my soul. They are my book best friends. Books by Camy Tang, Dee Henderson rank among by book best friends. Irene Hannon & Karen Kingsbury are really good book friends.
Wed Apr 25, 12:15:00 PM 2012
CollegeGrad18 said…
Oh, I get this! I have some books that I've read so many times I almost have them memorized. There's this one series called the Tahn Series by L.A. Kelly that I don't think I'll ever get tired of rereading.
Wed Apr 25, 12:45:00 PM 2012
Anonymous said…
Cornelia in Love Walked In, and Belong To Me, by Marisa de los Santos.
Wed Apr 25, 01:35:00 PM 2012
Camy Tang said…
I've never read Grapes of Wrath, does that make me a heathen? :) I'll have to try it.
Wed Apr 25, 01:46:00 PM 2012
Camy Tang said…
Aw thanks! I love Dee Henderson, Irene Hannon, and Karen Kingsbury, too! I like having them on ebook because I can take them with me wherever I go and if I want to re-read anything, they're right there!
Wed Apr 25, 01:47:00 PM 2012
Camy Tang said…
I need to try that! Yes, I've read Persuasion by Jane Austen so many times I practically have it memorized, too!
Wed Apr 25, 01:48:00 PM 2012
Camy Tang said…
I've never heard of those! I'll have to try to find them.
Wed Apr 25, 01:48:00 PM 2012
noseinanovel said…
I know exactly what you mean! I have been reading (and re-reading, and re-reading) Robin Jones Gunn's books for almost 12 years now. Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen are my best friends and I find myself thinking about them like they are real people! You know, like, "I wonder what they're up to? Wait, they're not real...right?" And, of course, Anne (of Green Gables, Avonlea) has been a book best friend since I first cracked open her story. I often find myself in "Anne-ish" moments or thinking, Okay - WWAD?
Thu Apr 26, 06:24:00 AM 2012
Camy Tang said…
LOL! I totally loved Anne of Green Gables, too! I wish all those books were out in ebook but I think one is still not available.
Fri Apr 27, 04:52:00 PM 2012
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