Being a book dragon.

Favorite part of my hoard: The set of World Book Encyclopedias my grandparents passed down to me.

If you're a bookish person, the whole bookworm vs. book dragon concept is not anything new to you. While everyone is quick to dub themselves a bookworm, fiendishly devouring books as if reading their pages sustained their very life-force, there are those of us who are book dragons. We hoard our books like gold coins, cling to them like precious gems, and guard them fiercely like treasure. In my mind, what distinguishes a bookworm from a book dragon is their read to not-read ratio of books in their collection. Bookworms tend to read books and pass them along in some way -- donating, lending, re-selling, etc -- and then seek out another book to digest. I would also imagine bookworms being very fond of digital books.

Book dragons on the other hand... they do not easily give up their books. While it takes a lot for a book dragon to get rid of a book they've already read, this is just one piece of the book dragon puzzle. Not only does a book dragon keep the books they've read as trophies, but they also buy books they have not read and do not have immediate plans to read. These are our book collectors. They will sleep on their treasure to their heart's content without necessarily having the intention of using any of it. Or, as me and other bookish people I know, book dragons will collect multiple editions of the same book just because they "look pretty."

Can a bookworm also be a book dragon? Absolutely. Though, I gotta say, it is pretty tiring and brutal on the budget. Side note: the increase in editions of sprayed edges is really getting out of hand. It's making it really difficult for me to prioritize things like food, shelter, and other necessities for living. Just kidding, I know how to budget. Kind of. I'm sure I could do better if I bought a book about it...

But I'm not ashamed to call myself a book dragon. Actually, I am quite proud of my growing collection, thank you very much. And I do intend to read all of my books. My lust for new books just greatly outpaces my ability to read books.

So what about you, my bookish friends? What are your thoughts on the Bookworm/Book Dragon ideas? Which one do you think you are?

Until next time, stay bookish,

Kim