snooty book-judgers of the world, unite!

I have always been a reader. I cannot remember not being able to read, nor can I remember not wanting to read. I've always carted around books, magazines, newspapers, flyers to fill in those moments when I can sit down and relax.

There has only been one brief moment when I couldn't bring myself to read, and that moment filled in the three or four months immediately following my last university class just two springs ago. After four years of being forced to read education theory I couldn't stand the thought of a book - every attempt to sit down and read led to headaches and queasiness.

I'm happy to report that I got over it, and have been reading full tilt for the past year and a half. Generally three or four books at a time, and generally works of non-fiction.

I'm not a novel reader. Never have been. When I read I like to read political theory and history, which I suspect places me in the ranks of the ten most boring people on earth.


Just this morning I finished one: Canadians by Roy MacGregor. I highly recommend it.


Perhaps that was predictable: books about being Canadian naturally catch my attention, but more important was the book jacket - rustic looking with a stencilled maple leaf, simple sans-serif font. It had all the ingredients of a great read.


"But Stu," you ask, "How do you know?"


Because, dear reader, I judge books by their covers.

Yes, I know, I'm supposed to avoid that. But it works - because very often a good book seems to be worthy of a good cover. Take, for example, Margaret Atwood's The Tent, a collection of short stories with an amazing cover illustration. Or Secrets From the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean. Or Louis Riel by Chester Brown. All of them have great covers and what you find between them is worthy.

There are, of course, other considerations one must make when choosing a book. Sadly, in my case, they are just as shallow as the perceived quality of the cover.

Take, for example, paper. Many very good books are printed on very crappy paper. I wouldn't know, I rarely finish those ones.

I like books with thick, smooth pages - books that have some weight to them and feel like a plank in your back pack.

Or text - some fonts are superior to others, as are some inks. Generally, if the book has a page describing the history of the font used it is a piece of literature worth consideration.

And then there are stickers. When your main choice in booksellers is Chapters, stickers can be hard to avoid. I have no problem buying those discount books with the forty percent off stickers on them - most of my hardcover books were acquired that way - but I'll be damned if I buy anything with "Oprah's Bookclub" on it, or a "Heather's Pick" sticker proudly displayed on the cover.

And so, dear reader, I'll admit it - I'm a booksnob and I judge books by their covers. Maybe I need to join some sort of booksnobs anonymous group. Who's with me?

"My name is Stu, and I'm a booksnob."