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Finding Love Between the Covers
By Emily FarrisAugust 14th, 2009, 3:29 pmComments (5)
A bookstore in Brooklyn (where—full disclosure—we used to work) has started a matchmaking service called "Between the Covers," matching people up based on literary taste.
A few weeks ago, Stephanie Anderson, the manager of Word Bookstore on Franklin Avenue created a match-making bulletin board, installed on the back of a bookshelf, to see if the books people love could possibly bring them together. The board invites visitors to write down their favorite books and authors—think “likes and dislikes, turn-ons and turn-offs” of a literary nature—along with their contact information, in hopes of finding a “literary soulmate.”
“It actually started when a friend of mine walked into the store and saw two books together behind the counter, one by Neil Gaiman and Steve Toltz,” Anderson said. “And she said, ‘tell me those are for the same guy, and please tell me he’s single!’ So, I got to thinking we could match people by literary taste.” [Greenpoint Gazette]
Why didn't we think of that?
Image via Chocolate Geek's flickr
Commentarium (5 Comments)
One of the greatest loves I've had (and lost) started because of similar tastes in books. We actually met on OK Cupid, but I found her by doing an oddly specific search for redheads in my area between certain ages that liked Robert Heinlein... and one result came up, Rachel.
We had two great years together and then in a moment of questioning of my own happiness, I lost her and her trust in my stability. While we still share a house, we no longer share a bed and it has been one of the hardest relationships to get over in a very long time.
I met my husband of 13 years via a personals ad that was nothing but my 25 favorite authors. Sadly, most of the other respondents clearly had never heard of the authors I liked and thought I was listing favorite bands.
As a baseline, being a reader is one of my few musts in a partner. One of the first questions I ask is "What's the last good book you read?" and the answer is one of the quickest ways to tell if I'll get along.
(As a strange aside, other than the fact that I haven't been living with someone for the past two years, I would have bet that Jeff's search combo on OKC of redheads who like Heinlein and are named Rachel wouldn't have more than one answer...me! I wonder who my redheaded reading twin is.)
Weirdly enough, I'm another OKC redhead who was actually born ON Heinlein's birthday. Strange.
To think, I was confsued a minute ago.
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