What makes a book a keeper?
We all have them.
The Keepers.
The books we will read again and again, the ones we guard with our lives, will never lend out and the ones we want to take to the grave with us.
But how to define a keeper?
What makes a book a keeper?
Is it the story? The characters? The writing style?
Sometimes one of them, sometimes all of them.
Personally, I fall in love with heroes. I’m sure most of us do. Sometimes I love the spunky heroine. Sometimes the storyline is one that grabs me and doesn’t let go.
It’s personal taste.
I have unlikely keepers, too.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg, is one of my keepers.
So is my collection of poems by Edgar Allan Poe.
Pest Control, by Bill Fitzhugh, is one of those unlikely keepers. I absolutely adore that book, because it makes me laugh out loud.
Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, is one I can read over and over.
However, my romance keepers… change.
They change, because I evolve, just like the genre evolves.
I used to gobble up anything by Johanna Lindsay, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss and Jude Deveraux. I swore they were all keepers.
My entire collection is boxed up and in the loft. I haven’t read one in years.
Actually, that’s not true.
I tried to read one. I got as far as a quarter of the book and put it down, wondering how I could ever have deemed it a keeper. The writing seemed stale. The storyline unbelievable and contrived. The heroine… let’s not go there. The hero was an overbearing rapist.
We change. Our tastes change.
Unfortunately, most of our keepers don’t stand the test of time and can’t cope with the change. (Some do, though.)
I remember Shanna (Kathleen E. Woodiwiss) with absolute fondness, because it was the first romance I read. I’ve never read the English version. (I read it in German.)
I have other Woodiwiss books in English, and I even peeked into one recently. I put it away, because… well… the writing was just… horrible. The language, the style… God. I just couldn’t bear it.
Don’t get me wrong. I still love those books. I have fond memories of the characters and the story. I just don’t want to read it again, because it would taint that memory.
I doubt I’m the only one who feels this way.
So what are the keepers you can’t bear to read again, but won’t let go of anyway?
Do you keep them out, or do you box them up?
Do you try to read them again?
Do you get put off, because the style that seemed so great when you first read it, is just not what you would read now?
I know I do.
And I keep the books anyway, would never part with them.
To me, they are like old friends you haven’t seen in a long time. But now you can see all their irritating habits, and prefer to know them from a distance. 
Keepers. *sigh*
) and she keeps three shelves worth which she pretty much NEVER re-reads. And I read a spectrum of books, preferring romance. (Keeping only what I know I’ll read multiple times). We’re all woman of the same family and we each approach ‘keepers differently.
I have just a couple handfuls of books that over the years I have deemed ‘keepers’. They are all ones I have read over and over again though.
I don’t have room to store any books that I wouldn’t read a dozen times, making it easy to hand them over to someone that will. If I haven’t read it in two or three years or when I pick it up I know I won’t read it again in the next couple years then I let it go. (Even if it was a great book).
There are some I have read and loved that I will never open again, for the same reason as above. They’re just to good to taint, but it makes it easier to give them up. I want to let other people experience them.
It’s funny how we each view ‘keepers’ though. To my sister, it’s all about YA books and paranormal. (She keeps ALL her YA books – good and bad. And rarely re-reads any of them). For my mom it’s romance, but mostly christian romance (some not so christian
Thanks SIlke. This was fun to think about and it reminds me, I’ve neglected one of my favorite re-reads.
Rachel(Quote) (Reply)
My keepers are the ones that have spoken to me on some level, either through unique (or as unique as one can get in this industry) plot, great characters or some other special memory–like my first horror book. I don’t still own my favorites, especially those I read as a teen, and even the ones I do own, I’ve never gone back and reread. They hold some ethereal place in my mind, and I don’t want to mess with it.
Jennifer Bianco(Quote) (Reply)
My keepers are the ones I buy… LOL, which [unfortunately] is not that many. But, when I do buy, I try to find ones that i know I’ll like. Favorite authors, etc. Re-reads is a different story. I can re-read my favorites. I will admit, though, that everytime I re-read an oldie, I”m skimming more for the really good parts.
Bethanne(Quote) (Reply)
*eyes the half-room-length shelf full of Silhouette Shadows*
*eyes the next shelf down, full of Silhouette Nocturnes*
I have every single Nocturne ever published (except the ebooks), and I’d say I have 90% of all Silhouette Shadows ever published. (And read them all. The SS that is. I’m about 8 behind on the Nocturnes atm.)
Tell ya something else.
I won’t ever part with them.
Silke(Quote) (Reply)