I own one book that I have bought four times, because I keep giving it to people who need it more than I do.
I will not say which one, partly because it would not work on you the way it worked on me. It is a thin, quiet novel, and nothing much happens. I read it in a bad winter, in about two sittings, in a chair by the window, and when I looked up something in the room had moved slightly.
Who gets it
There is no system. It has gone to a friend in the middle of a divorce, a neighbour whose dog died, a colleague who said nothing was wrong, and a nephew who only wanted something short. None of them has ever given it back, and I have stopped asking.
How to lend a book
- Assume you will not see it again.
- Do not write your name in it. It is no longer really yours.
- Never ask what they thought.
- Be pleased if they lend it to someone else.
A book that stays on the shelf is furniture. A book that goes missing has been working.
One of those copies came back to me last year, by accident. I found it in a charity shop two towns over, with my own pencil note still on page thirty. I bought it, of course, and it is waiting by the door for whoever is next.
Sample content for The Pixel, a fictional personal blog.
