Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Buy

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

If someone handed me a fully loaded gift card right now and sent me to buy books, I'd be at a loss.

Here's my secret: I am a librarian, I am a bibliophile, but I am not a book hoarder.

I'll give you a second to digest that.

It's true. I love books, I love reading, I love connecting other people to books and talking about books I've read or books that are similar to other books, but I don't collect them around me like a dragon's treasure.

One reason behind this is that I've moved a lot in my life, and it's never been a "couple miles down the road" type of move, but usually a "to another state / country / time zone / continent" type of move. That means downsizing. That means only your very best books or toys or whatever come with you. [If you like sad stories, ask me about the stuffed animal box routine my mom had for us, where we had a Hunger Games-esque reaping of our stuffed toys before a move.] So the books I have, I've kept for a long, long time. And new books? Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like books, but I usually donate any books I receive to the library after I've read them, and I don't make a habit of purchasing any new ones, because I know they won't last on my shelf.

The other reason is simply this: I believe books are meant to be shared. If it's on my shelf, that means you're not reading it. The kid down the street isn't reading it. The lady in line behind me at the grocery store isn't reading it. I want books to be read and loved and used and beat up and dog-eared and talked about. And they do all of those things much better when they don't stay on my shelf.

That being said, if I were able to purchase ten books right now, and money and publication dates weren't issues, I'd purchase these ten soon-to-be-published books, and after I read them I'd donate them to the library or mail them to a friend or stick them in a Little Free Library somewhere unless they joined the small group of Books I Do NOT Give Away:

1. Heartless by Marissa Meyer. Cinder's author writing about Alice in Wonderland. WANT
2. the graphic novel version of Kindred by Octavia Butler. I just read the print version of this and can't wait for the graphic novel version
3. As I Descended by Robin Talley
4. The Bronze Key by Holly Black
5. Spindle by E.K. Johnston (actually, anything by E.K. Johnston would be on this list)
6. Three Truths and a Lie by Brett Hartinger
7. We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen
8. Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee
9. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown
10. When the Moon was Ours by Anna Marie McLemore

These books have been on my TBR pile since I first heard of them, and I am *patiently* waiting their publication so I can read them and pass them along to others. 

What book would you buy right now if money and publication date weren't issues? Are there any books on your "I absolutely must keep these forever" shelf?