This is quite the take from a supposedly serious newspaper:

Yes, if you want to physically own books and keep them in your possession you're in a cult!

And you're probably one of those smug, middle-class jerks!

 

The story is basically all about how the author doesn't need to keep books in her house because she isn't likely to ever read them again and she's a much better person for donating or "recycling" the books.

She's not a hoarder like the rest of us who realize the value of having a physical copy of a book.

This phenomenon is best illustrated by a poster that for a while was following me around the internet in advert form, under the misapprehension that because I love cats and read books – and, indeed, have written a book about a cat – it had my taste in interior decor pinned down. The poster shows a cat and bears the slogan: "THAT'S WHAT I DO, I READ BOOKS, I DRINK TEA AND I KNOW THINGS."

Apologies if you own this poster, but to me it encapsulates everything that is smug and middle class about the cult of book ownership. I don't mean reading – provided you're lucky enough to still have a local library, that is a pastime that is accessible to almost everyone. No, I specifically mean having a lot of books and boasting about it, treating having a lot of books as a stand-in for your personality, or believing that simply owning a lot of books makes one "know things".

Yes, if you have a problem with getting rid of books that you've read then you're smug and you just want to show off how many books you own to show off your wealth and knowledge.

It's truly amazing that this condescending person would call book owners smug.

This bookshop has the perfect response:

In the days of changing dictionary definitions, websites changing information and erasing the past, Wikipedia edits, and digital media that Amazon or Apple can just take away from you it might just be in the best interest of you and your family to own physical media.

So get on out there and build your library!