The first part is easy: YES! I always, always have a book with me, no matter where I'm going or what I'm doing. That was true when I had to lug around paperbacks and it's absolutely still true now I have an eReader (though true, the handbags can be smaller!)
So do I hide book covers? When I was younger and worried about what people thought, I used to not take out the books I thought were at the geekier end of the spectrum, i.e. anything that might get me pegged as a "sci-fi nerd". I'd read Robert Jordan and Terry Pratchett at home but then switch to Louise Rennison and Jacqueline Wilson in public. Tragic, I know! :)
These days, I don't even need to think about it! If it's something particularly nerdy that might embarrass me, I'll make sure I've got an eBook version. Like...well, I can't think of anything I'd be embarrassed about now I'm more mature and less inclined to give two hoots about what someone else thought about my literary choices but still...it wouldn't be a problem if there was something!
So against that background of usually being very much a 'do-what-you-want-regardless-of-others'-opinions' kind of girl, this morning, on a jam packed commuter train, I turned a page in Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld to find a full page illustration. As soon as I saw it, I hunched down over my book and brought it closer to me to restrict the chances of the other suit-wearing passengers noticing the fact that I was reading a book that has pictures! Why? I still couldn't tell you...all I know is that before today I would have said, "I absolutely do not hide what I read!". Now I guess I'd have to say that there are times when I care!
Not, of course that I care enough to take Leviathan out of my handbag and replace it with my eReader. So I guess that's something! :) I shall be much hardier in future!
Are you an book brandisher or a book hider? Do you get twitchy without the comforting weight of a book in your bag too?
