Leave My Books Alone!

I love books. I read constantly. I borrow from friends and the library and I own many. Many, many. I regularly sort through my shelves and piles to decide whether I really want to continue providing a home for each of the volumes that have collected. There are some that I realize I'm never going to reread. As good as they were, there are too many new books to get to, so they go in the give-away pile. That still leaves a lot of books I can't bear to part with. My husband is an avid reader too, and even worse at this painful sorting chore, so our house looks a lot like the back room at a retail bookstore. It's not a problem, as long as there are several places to sit, the bed is clear, and I can walk to the bathroom in the dark without getting hurt. However, collecting books is not all joy. I own a number of series. Quite a few have been going on for years, to my great delight. I get a feeling of comfort from seeing these favorites lined up on the shelf. Yes, I'm strange, but you knew that already. As I lovingly run my eyes over what should be a matched set, they suddenly don't match at all. Assorted colors change to white, matte finish to metallic. It's painful to look at. I'm also not happy about the change in size of the mass market books. Those small paperbacks have been the same size for decades. A few years ago, some started being made a half inch taller. My shelves look like a mouth full of broken teeth. Publishers, if you care about my sanity, please pick a cover design and stick to it. Same goes for the size. Thank you.