With the book, you give something of yourself—something that may hold some of your thoughts and deliberations in the form of notes, or indicate part of your personal history in that the book may be heavily used or not used at all; it may be a special edition or translation; it may show traces of having been dropped in the bath, speaking to your reading habits. And you’ll think about whether you want to risk handing it over: Will the borrower treat it respectfully, and return this part of you?

(via Annotations - Triple Canopy)