It's YOU - NOT You're Books!

I recently picked up an issue of the New York Times Book Review that I hadn't yet had time to read when I came across this essay titled "It's not You, It's Your Books" by Rachel Donadio. In the article, Rachel makes the argument that two people with drastically different tastes in literature can never be together as a couple.

That gave me pause because my husband, Adam, and I are even more polarly opposite - he doesn't even like novels! Gasp! My husband is an extremely intelligent man with varied interests - reading novels just isn't one of them.

So, you might be wondering, "how can a self-confessed bibliophile - one who keeps a bo0k blog for christ's sake - be married to a man who would rather do yard work than read a novel?" "Easy", I would answer. To me, reading is a sigularly solitary pursuit. Adam and I enjoy dinners at nice restaurants, going jogging together, having drinks with our friends, traveling, etc.
Adam is smart in ways that I am not and devotes his television watching time to programs such as documentaries explaining religion's impact on the global economy while I am in the other room watching the exploits of Heidi and Spencer on The Hills.

I actually believe that our opposites are what make our domestic routine work. For example, we spend most of our evenings together in the same room, cuddled on the couch - he watches one his many documentaries and I lay with my head in his lap devouring my latest book. This way we aren't in opposite rooms watching different programs and I reap the benefit of him passing on everything he has gleaned from his television shows without actually having to - yawn -watch them!

It's HIM, not his books!

I would love to hear what other's opinions are on this subject. Look on the right-hand column and vote!