I’m an avid reader. I love stories and the words that make up those stories. I love the artwork that goes on book covers and sometimes on the inside of dust jackets. I love the sometimes quirky dedications. I love that there are so many different types of page edges and they add character to the story. I love small books that I can finish in a day and I love big tomes that look like they’d take over my life.

I also love collecting books. I like to find books with the perfect cover art to put on my shelf (after having read them of course). I love having book series that make up a nice little set.

Having been a reader all my life, and being someone whose first instinct is to always say ‘yes’, I’ve suffered a lot of heartbreak when it comes to book-lending:

• My copy of “Blue Dahlia” & “Black Rose” by Nora Roberts came back to me all torn and tattered. My aunt had borrowed them to read. My cousins, babies at the time, decided the books were getting way too much attention from their mom and would tear at them and try to grab them away from her. When she tried returning them to me, I insisted she keep them and that I could just get new copies. But how my heart ached!
• The copy of “Maps for Lost Lovers” by Nadeem Aslam that I lent to my upstairs neighbor in my hostel. Within a month she had moved out and taken my book with her. I didn’t even know she moved until I hadn’t seen her for a few weeks and asked one of her roommates. The audacity!
• My much-prized copies of “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt and “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia that an ex borrowed during the good times but conveniently forgot to return after the good times were over. He has since moved to Canada – whether my books traveled with him or were given away is a mystery. There is some consolation here – I have his copies of “Heroes” and “Troy” by Stephen Fry which I’m holding hostage until such a time as my books are returned safely.

After all this heartbreak, I have stopped lending books. I have had to curtail my habit of saying ‘yes’ and now whenever someone asks if they can borrow a certain book, I direct them to a bookstore or an online resource where the book is available to read/purchase. That doesn’t always clear up the matter. Many people love to argue.

“But how many more times are you actually going to read it?” “It’s just sitting there gathering dust!” “Why don’t you share the book if you love it so much?”

I stay quiet while they ramble on. Once they’re done, I quietly repeat, “No,” and their exasperated ‘I-give-up’ huff that follows is a win for me.