Overheard a librarian say 'some books choose you' and it finally made sense

I was at the Seattle Public Library last Tuesday just browsing the new arrivals section when I heard one librarian tell another that 'some books choose you, not the other way around.' I kinda laughed it off at first but then I thought about it. Last year I picked up a beat up copy of 'The Sparrow' by Mary Doria Russell from a free bin outside a coffee shop. It looked boring honestly but something made me grab it. That book wrecked me for a solid two weeks. The way it handled faith and trauma and human failure just hit me in a spot I didn't know existed. I still think about the ending sometimes. Has anyone else had a book they almost passed on but it ended up being the one that broke them the most?

2 comments

2 Comments

blaked7914d ago

That line about "some books choose you" hit me too. I grabbed a random paperback off a shelf at a thrift store once and it ended up being one of those stories that just stayed with me for years.

shah.shane13d ago

I get what you mean, @blaked79, about that line being powerful (it's a beautiful idea, really). But I kind of see it the other way - I think we do the choosing, even if it feels random. We're drawn to certain covers or titles for reasons we don't even notice at the time, and then we make meaning out of it later.