just bc you live together doesn’t mean you should share everything. his & hers (or his & his, etc) book copies enable very fun two person book clubs, a charming shelf worthy of noah’s arc, and the luxury of a spare copy to give away to a friend when asked.
either….
a) one you think he’ll love
b) one that you love and want to share with him
c) one that you can annotate and personalize for him (poetry books are the best for this, but cookbooks can also rock)
thought daughters… pay attention. I love to give gifts to my lovers, but I have lost some of my most treasured, most underlined books to flings. Matt: you owe me Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson, Birds of America by Lorrie Moore and The Idiot (Elif Batuman not Dostoevsky). Shane: you owe me The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. Now, I only give my copies to friends or those I am (seriously) dating. Plus, a lovely friend gifted me a stamp so I WILL KNOW and I will FIND YOU!
reading aloud to a friend or husband or partner is truly one of life’s little joys. swapping chapters back and forth is the perfect activity for a day in the park, a rainy afternoon on the couch, before dinner after a long hike on a camping trip, or in bed. i particularly recommend doing this with something silly, like a 1970s pulp fantasy novel or 1950s teen romance from the discount bin of a used book store.
