How to show your character as a 21st century bookworm?

[Logseman]

I was looking at the small Pbook collection I've gathered here in Berlin, and a thought came to me.

Today and in the old days, you could tell a person's taste for arts if he or she kept a large collection, whether of pictures, vinyls or CD's... or books, if your character was a bookworm.

To come with an old example, the Quixote posessed an expanded library for the sake of whose expansion he had sold even part of his estate. Moreover, the titles of the books he read, which are revealed when his neighbors enter inside it and begin to sort out the "malign" ones, show us his madness and folly about chivalry books.

In the 21st century, it would seem that physical collections will recede, even for bookworms. Plus, you can't tell a person's tastes right away anymore if he or she merely sports an mp3 player or an ebook reader, for they're mainstream devices which can be used by either casual readers or hardcore users.

How will we identify the bookworms of the 21st century in contemporary novels ?

[BreezyDay]

Hi, Logseman!

Here are a few thoughts:

(1) by the number of books listed on their online shelves of such websites as shelfari
(2) by the frequency and depth of participation in online book forums
(3) maybe they have their virtual rotating library of books projected against a wall in their home like a painting. The more books the more the look of the virtual painting changes.
(4) or for a twist - maybe the character is going to now purchase print books where they would have read library books in past (print books now becoming even more like cherished, priceless antiques). Bookworms, the keepers of history.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers,
Regina
[COLOR="Blue"]

[Promotion deleted - MODERATOR]

[DaringNovelist]

Yes, I think book geeks will be the ones who have at least a few tattered old books around, when everybody else has dumped their library. (And the physical books they have will be really representative of what they treasure, rather than simply what has accumulated.)

In a novel I'm writing right now, one character pauses to look at the play list on another's mp3 player and comments on it - but in that scene, the player is hooked up to speakers, so it's kind of "public". Snooping or observing is about it, I guess. Or perhaps noticing that they actually own a Kindle, or that all the icons on their iPhone are book reading apps....

Camille

[nomesque]

Originally Posted by Logseman

How will we identify the bookworms of the 21st century in contemporary novels ?

Clutching her Kindle to her chest, Samantha edged her way through the subway to the edge of the platform, oblivious to the admiring looks her chest was receiving.

[neilmarr]

Simple, I think, Logseman ... by the quality of his/her conversation. 'Twas always so. Cheers. Neil

[GeoffC]

by the quality of the cover on the reader ....

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

If you're looking for fairly obvious literary conventions, I'd suggest:

• Constantly holding, instead of pocketing or bagging, their readers;
• Showing off with literary quotes;
• Glasses.... possibly a future reader tool, the text is displayed on the glasses, giving the person a faraway look at all times;
• Highly intelligent;
• Small and nerdy-thin, pale in pallor, perhaps slightly anti-social or overly shy and quiet;
• One or two humongous hardback antiques in their possession, which they only admire, but never read (they have the full text in a digital format, and use that).

[idraw22]

Breezy Day, I that was beautiful! I could actually picture the virtual library! You'd probably keep it on a memory stick on a holodeck, and select one there, whenever you insert the stick into your Jetbook or other ereader, the hololibrary would appear before you. Wow.

[BreezyDay]

idraw22, a hololibrary - now that would really be cool!

Regina
http://www.reginapacelli.com

[Author Eyes]

Shelfari is a great way to list your books-- ones you plan to read, or ones you've already read.

Goodreads is another place to do essentially the same thing.

And, don't forget Librarything!