I’m in California this weekend celebrating our oldest daughter’s college graduation! Please give a warm welcome to my wonderful reader friends Joy, Crissy, and Amy. They’re here to provide insight on a question near and dear to an author’s heart. What elevates a book to a reader’s “keeper shelf”? -Becky
What Causes Readers to Place a Book on Their Keeper Shelf:
1. The characters move off the page and take up residence in our hearts.
2. We start referring to the characters as if they’re our friends. “My friend Nora told me a story about this chapel…”
3. The cover gave us heart eyes the moment we saw it. You know the ones… Author? Doesn’t matter. Back blurb? Didn’t even read it. But that cover smooth-talked us into buying it all on its own.
4. It’s autographed to us personally.
5. We went from wanting to toss the book across the room at one point, followed quickly by wanting to hug it to our chest in adoration.
6. We want to both shout from the rooftops for the world to read it AND keep it close so that it’s only ours. Sharing can be hard when you find a book that is special to you. What if no one else likes it? The Horror!
7. We were unable to pick up another book for a few days after reading it.
8. We’ve met the author.
9. We were on the launch team and had a great time getting to know both the author and our teammates so now the book is a treasured keepsake.
10. We lived and found ourselves within the pages.
11. We read the entire book in one sitting and then contemplated starting it over because we finished it too fast.
12. One of our future children (or pets) will be named after one of the characters.
What causes you to add a book to your “keeper shelf”?
Becky Wade
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Very interesting post. All of these apply to me except for 11 and 12. I’m not a fast reader. I have experienced #5 with several excellent authors (maybe that’s what makes them excellent), and the first time it happened to me, I was shocked! I even woke up in the middle of the night, thinking about how upset I was. I wanted to call the author and say, “How could you do this?” Yep, that intense.
In case you have a chance to check in, have a great weekend and enjoy your daughter’s graduation and time with family. By coincidence, I’m in California, also, on an extended visit with my daughter and family – in Riverside!
I’m not a fast reader either, Betty (that one is all Crissy LOL). Oh how I wish I could be because sometimes I just can’t read fast enough to find out what happens! That sounds like an excellent reading experience for number 5! Do you remember the book title even now? Those are the kinds of books I want to reread… and yet don’t… because what if the experience is too different the second time?
A series by Liz Curtis Higgs. Once you start reading you will recognize the Biblical retelling – set in Scotland in late 1700’s.
Book 1 – Thorn in My Heart – just checked, on sale as ebook for $2.99
Book 2 – Fair is the Rose
Book 3 – Whence Came a Prince
Book 4 – Grace in Thine Eyes
My reviews are on Goodreads.
Thanks, Betty! I’ll go check those out right now!
You three are AMAZING!!! I absolutely loved all the examples!!
You three are AMAZING!! I loved reading your 12 examples…so fun!!
Mua! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
These were great – and I could relate to several of them. I do have several books written by friends of mine, but only some of them stayed on my shelf.
I once kept a book for 20 years (Jack the Bodiless) because the year that I found and read it was a special time in my life. The book was good but not a 20-year keeper.
Some books are so well-written and say what I would say if I could be more articulate and imaginative, and those I’ve kept. One example is Kathy Tyer’s Crystal Witness.
Appreciate the post – made me stop to analyze why I have kept certain books, which makes me want to write novels that affect others the same way.