The books I like most
Assuming that the writer is a student and not a collector, there are three main principles to observe in the formation of a personal library.
There are :-
- Books are for use, not decoration ! A knowledgeable collector will have many fine editions, but it is quite useless merely to buy books for the sake for their cost or expensive printing and binding.
- Do not collect books for the sake of doing so, otherwise they will clutter your shelves and mostly remain unread.
- Buy nothing second-rate, but rather buy cheap editions of good works, many of which are available in paper-back form nowadays.
The private reader’s library should be divisible into four main categories; reference, special subjects, hobbies and games and novels.
It is true that any good library contains all the encyclopedias and reference books you need. So why go to the expense of buying them ? Al the same, a student cannot always work in a library, neither can he visit one every time he wants to look up a reference, so it is advisable to have one or two key tomes on your shelves. These will vary slightly according to your special subjects. If you are an English language and literature student, you would profit from getting the following small reference section together :-
Oxford Companion to English Literature.
Oxford Book of English Verse.
Oxford Book of English Prose.
Gurney-Benham’s Dictionary of Quotations.
Concise Oxford Dictionary.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
The bulk of your library should consist of books on your special subject(s).
The basic textbooks are essential and bought or borrowed as a matter of routine, so your own library should consist of standard ‘background’ books. These will enable you to keep a true perspective in your subject and also help you in the understanding of the set books. A student of 20th Century European history would probably want to collect Sir Winston Churchill’s war books and the memoirs of some of the great generals and statesmen. But he would beware of ‘historical fiction’, especially the romantic type !
Very few of us have no hobby, game or ‘outside interest’, and there is a great variety of books in the market written to help us carry out these various activities better. They are generally cheap, an form an attractive addition to the personal library.
Today, many people collect ‘paperbacks’ by the dozen, novels and novelettes, to be given or thrown away as soon as read. there is no harm in this form of relaxation, provided it does not supersede the reading of good fiction and study in general. Most paperbacks are not worth keeping in a personal library. The simple test is ‘shall I ever want to read this book again’. If so, keep the book, but the answer is generally no ! Good novels, however, especially those of social importance or significance, form an essential part of a well-balanced selection of books.
