The Real Reason I Buy Picoult

"I still can't believe you bought another Jodi Picoult book," Stephanie said today as I showed her the newly organized bookcase.

"Why?" I asked, knowing full well where this conversation was going.

"You don't even like her," she said.

"Her books are okay," I said.

My wife just looked at me, waiting for me to admit the real reason I have three of her novels sitting on my shelves.

"Okay, do you really want to know why I bought that last one?" I asked. She responded in the affirmative, but her eyes told me she'd just as soon clean the toilet. "Because they look cool on the shelf."

"I knew you were going to say that," she said, walking over to the books and pointing at them. "I saw them and knew you'd like the fact they say Jodi Picoult real big, with the book title in the same font right next to her name on all three. You're such a sucker for marketing."

I just laughed. As she walked off down the hallway, I shouted after her, "But you have to admit, they do look cool right next to each other."

And they do. I might not be the world's biggest Picoult fan, but after buying two, I knew I'd be a collector just because they have a nice, unified spine design. They look great together. As a matter of fact, I can't wait to get more (although I'm hoping that future volumes are the same height...the spines look great next to each other, but it bothers me that each new one is slightly taller than the last).

Hell, the nice set design is the same reason I buy Ben Bova's "World Tour" books and that's why I have the entire Dune prequel/sequel series despite never having read a single one. That's right, I haven't read any of them, but they look great sitting next to each other. And the more I get, the better they look.

Same goes with the Hard Case Crime books. Of course, I've read a few of those, and they're great reads, but its the covers and the spine unity that keeps me coming back for more each and every month. I just love standing in front of that shelf, soaking in the cool, cohesive look of those spines.

Call me a sucker all you want, but I might be one of the few who gets extra enjoyment each time I look at my bookcase. As they say, don't judge a book by its cover, judge it by its spine.