Books that have known passion

A book is like a woman. She should leave your bed with her hair tangled and her clothes on backward. A book without creases is a book that has never known passion,

Terri-Lynne DeFino, The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (And Their Muses)

Passion is hardly the only explanation for books with creases. Misuse is just as likely, if not more likely. Pages are dog-eared. Books are stored in damp places. Dogs chew on them. They are left face down for long periods. Dust jackets were not removed before the books are read. They are covered in dust.

Terri-Lynne DeFino

Yet the character in Terri-Lynne DeFino's The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (And Their Muses) does have a point. Books that have been read but don't look like it may have never known real passion.

Books with passionate readers are often books with passages underlined.

They have been read more than once — and show it.

They fall open to certain pages where favorite passages — or poems — have been read over and over again.

The covers show signs of having been carried around, taken from place to place.

The top of the spine indicates the book has been pulled down from a shelf repeatedly.

All this is particularly true of Bibles. A Bible that looks like it has never been opened probably hasn't been opened. One that has been read passionately over the years shows it on almost every page.

Look at your favorite books, the ones you would never part with. Chances are your passion for them is apparent just by looking at them.