I am going to be the first to admit that there books that I have loved so much that I killed them! My Anne of Green Gables series was so well loved that there were stains of chocolate ice cream and bits of cheesies. There were water stains, grass stains, and bits of sand; and eventually the poor books couldn't take it anymore. They fell apart but I feel like I grew up with those books.
I got them for Christmas when I was 10 and I had them for 13 or 14 years when they started falling apart. Santa brought me the boxset that I was drooling over into Chapers or Coles and I couldn't have been happier. Now I mentioned that these books were full of everything and I would like to think that it marked my passage from child to teen to adult; the chocolate ice cream stains were from summer nights reading and eating because I couldn't put the book down. The grass stains and sand were from the days of being a teen, taking the books to the beach, and laying on the grass on a blanket and reading them. That never stopped the wind from whipping the pages around, or the fog from dampening the book further. And as an adult or well a young adult; the books became stained with tears when Matthew died because I read it after losing my grandmother and then grandfather, so I could relate to the loss. I enjoyed Anne through many parts of my life and I was very sad when they started to become unreadable, oh I could have kept them I suppose and maybe I should have but they were tattered and sad. I couldn't believe that the shiny new books had become these old ones and I put them down. I was cleaning out my closet and though I hated to part with them, I couldn't keep them either.
Another set of well loved books that took the same path at the same time was The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I got those in grade 8, I think the movies had just started coming out so they had the movie covers and I know that some people wouldn't like that but I don't really pay attention to the covers too much. It was my first real descent into the world of fantasy and other worlds; I loved it. I read the books within a week and was sad that it was over. I even put them aside not wanting to know what would become of the merry band of travelers. I was so into the books that I read the whole index of what happened once the books were done, I read all about Sam's children and what he became. Who Merry and Pippin turned out to be and how Frodo and Bilbo went on adventures. These books too were battered, the covers wrinkled and the spines so bent that they could stay open in the middle. The pages were curled from where I took the books to the bathtub. There were some bits of sand and grass because I took them with me too. I fell in love with Fantasy books at that point and I don't think that I will ever look back. I didn't want to give up on my books but I couldn't keep them. Battered as they were, I was shocked that my mother hadn't thrown them out before. Battered, ratty, and honestly I think there were a few pages missing. The hardcover set came out in October of this year and I treated myself to this version, a little harder to kill them. I've opened these pages and been transported back to the time when I was 13 and falling in love with fantasy all over again.
My Game of Thrones books recently were the ones that are much loved and abused to no end. I should have learned not to take my books into the bathtub with me but I haven't. I have a steel plate in my shoulder from an accident about 4 years back and when it gets very cold, it hurts; hot water is one of the things that soothes me. So I spend a fair amount of the cold winter, in a bathtub; Game of Thrones took me out of the world and made me laugh and cry. I hated that George R R Martin killed off so many of my favourite characters but I love that I laughed as I thought I might have a bad shoulder but at least I still have a head to sit on my neck unlike Ned Stark. And I have re-read them in the bathtub partly because I don't really want to bring more books in there.
I loved all these books and I still do! I have yet to replace my Anne of Green Gables series but I will. I can't live forever without Gilbert and Anne. Their relationship makes me so happy and angry at the same time. I think every girl should want a Gilbert Blythe; he's the most patient man in the whole wide world and yes he has his faults but he's only human. Just as I can't live without the adventures of Frodo and company, I must set out on that journey every now and again. Just to relive it. To be reminded that a very small person can have a big impact on the world without really knowing it. Everyone needs to be reminded of that. As for Game of Thrones, it reminds me that my life doesn't suck and that I don't have the Lannisters ruling over me, so I'm good. I'm sure that the Outlander series will be read again and I'll probably share it with some friends, so that they too can enjoy it. So those books will eventually tell a story as well.
Chances are if you read, you've loved a book too much!
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