i go to the library at least four times a week, and my relationship with the multnomah county library is this complex, beautiful thing, where holds are constantly coming in, and the selection is so good, sometimes without a hold, the venture brothers or the kurt vonnegut book i haven’t read will be on the shelves that i bump into.

of course i know about books good smells, and the excitement of a printed page, writing in margins. once i bumped into someone who smelled into a library, and why is that not cologne and perfume scents?

but here’s the thing:
i also have a weird obsession with the size and weight of books.
as of now, i’m currently working through 3 sketchbooks, because different circumstances demand different sketchbooks. i don’t want to draw wildly in a large sketchbook on the bus, i want a medium size one that i can sneak out of my purse and sketch with. i want an even smaller one just for lists of project ideas and films to watch and movies to see. the big one i want for serious events. i like grabbing a big sketchbook and sitting dawn to draw in the park blocks, taking time and being conscious of my surroundings and really working on proportions.

with novels, different size books also seem to serve different purposes in my mind. i’ve been reading graphic novels lately, and i don’t know what to do with weird size books. i don’t have a bag for them, its overwhelming. kind of like the 900 page novel i’ve been working on. i’d rather it be 3 novels that can fit in my purse for bus rides. i’m a little bit moody when i carry it aroud. is it weird to judge books on their shapes? one of the best feelings i get is when i pick up a book on hold at the library, and its the perfect size and weight. i don’t know what that is. usually its like old-classics size, so either hardback with colored pages that’s slightly large to fill half your forearm as you walk or to hug across your chest, or small paperback classics, with thin paper, and awkward notes in the margin.

anyways.
yeah.
anyone else have opinions on books and shapes?

also, i read X’ed out and One Hundred Demons this week
X’ed out was okay, but One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry is a must read. check it out, ya’ll.