Work Text:
Tsundoku (Japanese) — (n) the act of buying a book and leaving it unread, often piled together with other unread books
You love this.
You love the musty smell of paper as your fingers slide along the edge of an old book; the scent of the prim and new paper and ink is also just as wonderful. The story may be inside the covers, but there is also a trace of history or modernity, as though the book has another tale to be told. The margins range from yellow to white, the beautiful text etched in different fonts depending on what sort of book you have your eye on. Some of them have pages lined in gold or silver; others have ribbons attached at the top of the spine that serve as ribbons. The covers are made of a variety of materials — leather, cloth, paper, and marbled boards. Some books have pictures on the front cover, illustrations printed with colors or none. Others have only text, written in inks and sometimes fleshed in gold.
As you pace through the old bookstore, shopping for bargains, your eyes dash here and there. Whenever a particular book catches your attention, you pluck it from its place on the shelf and browse through it. If it interests you further, you place it in the basket at your side and continue with your browsing.
"I thought I'd see you here."
You look up only to find Shuichi, one of your classmates. "Oh, hello," you say. "I do like it here. You can sit down with a few books and a cup of coffee and enjoy the weekend away."
"This must be one of your favorite places. I find that you're in here quite a lot."
"Well, sometimes I'm here searching for things to read for my book club, and sometimes I just like to buy books."
"Do you read all of them?"
You give him a sheepish smile. "No, not always. I intend to, of course, but that's not something that's always feasible, between school and work and shopping for more books. They all kind of pile up at home for me to go through later."
Shuichi nods. "I understand the sentiment. Although I may not have such a collection as you do, I can relate to the desire to purchase books whenever I see one that I find interesting."
"I'm glad that you do," you admit. "To be perfectly honest, I have friends who think that it's a waste of money! But I can't think of anything else to spend my money on — it's like an investment for future entertainment."
"Entertainment, yes, and lessons to be learned on the adventures on which these characters may take you."
"Oh, you're so perceptive, Shuichi. We can be friends," you joke. "But seriously. Maybe you could recommend a few more books for me? I do have to warn you, though — my reading list is quite long."
He chuckles. "I do know of a few intriguing titles. Perhaps you can make an exception."
"I'll see what I can do."
That night you end up carrying a stack of books home. Shuichi offers to help, but you politely refuse; you were used to carrying books over long distances anyway. Once you arrive at home, you pile your new-found treasures atop of your old treasures — you have a lot of treasures, and to you, they are priceless. Although you are halfway through another book, you pick up one of the new titles that were recommended to you today, thumbing through the old pages and taking a satisfied breath as you did so. It is getting late, but neither dinner nor sleep are on your mind. You have some reading to do, after all.