Mary Ann
I bet by now you know that I love books. I am a bibliophile, truly addicted to books. From an early age, I remember getting a Golden Book when my mother went to the grocery store. Do you remember reading The Pokey Little Puppy? We had a whole collection by the time I began to read.
Then you go to school, learn to read, and Scholastic Book Clubs began. Every month a flier would come full of new books, a reading nirvana! My father was a high school teacher in the same building that I attended elementary school. When the flier came, I would race to his room after school to share it with him. My father would give me $3 or $4 dollars to place an order. The paperbacks were $.35 or $.50 at the time. The money went a long way, and I could dream, dream, dream about all the books I would read. I remember that Pippi Longstocking was a favorite. Didn’t we all want to be Pippi?
When I got older, I could take the bus to our little town and get my library card. That card opened the world for me. I discovered Victoria Holt and Daphne du Maurier. Those books had a hint of romance that was just right for a young teen. Then a bookstore opened in the town, and as soon as I was old enough to work, I applied for a job. I worked there during my high school and college years often spending more on books than I made.
On my 21st birthday, my parents gave me all the hard-bound books that Victoria Holt at written at the time. It was one of the most special gifts I ever received. It began my book collecting. I then needed a bookshelf, so I made one of cinderblocks and wooden boards. Did you make such a bookshelf? My ex-husband and children gave me the remainder of the Holt books, so I have the whole collection.
As the years passed, I collected and read so many books. Around my house I stack cairns of unread books. There is a word for that – Tsundoku which is Japanese for the stack of books you’ve purchased but haven’t yet read. If there is a word for it, I feel there are many fellow book hoarders out there besides me. When I do go to a bookstore, I am enchanted, under a spell, and always leave with a bag of books that I add to the ever-growing piles.
Even with Kindles and Nooks – I have both — your library grows. I read current fiction and non-fiction on them. It has cut down on the number of physical books, but still the number of digital books grows. I do love the feel of a real book in my hands, even the smell of it, but Kindle makes life easier with traveling whether on a subway or a major trip. I do need to join the library to use their digital books or Libby to save money. I hear that zlibrary is an excellent app for free books– I need to check it out. You should too.
I have moved several times, and each time I do, I give boxes of books away to friends or the library. I just gave 75 books to local thrift shop. It’s not like I don’t try to get a handle on my passion for books. I have found homes for all my schoolbooks – that was 40 years of books. At least someone else can use them, and the books will help children.
When I look back on my life, I sometimes think that if I had all the money back that I have spent on books, that maybe I wouldn’t have needed to save for retirement. However, I really do not regret a penny that I have spent on my love of books. They are my dear friends. It has always brought me great joy! Though, I am toying with the idea of working in a bookstore again….
Silver Sage Sisters 