Don’t Be Bookish, Be Bookful 17 May, 2023 – Posted in: Articles, Books – Tags: Opinion, Reading

How many times have you heard someone described as bookish? Probably more often than you think. But calling someone bookish is like saying someone is aliveish or funish. It lacks conviction. People who dedicate their lives to reading are not bookish, but rather bookful.

I’ve always felt that ‘ish’ is a weak and unflattering suffix. If something is ish it’s not quite one thing or another. Describing someone as somethingish, while not exactly an insult, doesn’t fill one with joy either. As readers we should eschew the term bookish and replace it with bookful.

People perceived as thoughtful, mindful, or helpful is are people we tend to trust. Shrewish, foolish, or boorish people are people we avoid. Should readers suffer with these sorts of ideas simply because of a badly chosen suffix?

Not all ish things are terrible, but using it to describe someone does is praise of the faintest sort. But using the ful suffix presents those who marvel at the written word in a much more positive and affirming light. Let’s not be bookish, but bookful from now on.

When you comment that someone is bookful, you raise their esteem in the eyes of others instead of trying to excuse their behaviour or disassociate yourself from the lucky reader. Bookful people spend their time wisely experiencing the world through new and unique perspectives and ask nothing from you. Bookful people are more likely to lend a hand, a word of encouragement, or a comforting shoulder when the need arises.

Being bookful shows that readers are strong, independent risk takers. People willing to explore the unfamiliar and uncomfortable. These are people that aren’t taken in by lies and rhetoric. People that are free-thinkers with an ability to think critically by reading.

It’s time for readers to throw off the yoke of bookish and stake their claim in this world. We are readers and we are bookful!