My Love Affair with Books

I read an article yesterday on the site of the Huffington Post regarding 20 things that have become obsolete in the past decade. Some of the items, like VCRs, I had to laugh and agree with, but one in particular caught my attention and horrified me. It was “bookstores.”

One of my favorite pastimes is getting a coffee and browsing through a bookstore. I love books. I love books as much as I love shoes. Yeah, that’s saying something, isn’t it? In fact, if I had to choose, I would choose books OVER shoes. I love books MORE than shoes. That’s really saying something. I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t read books. Nathan laughs at my stacks and stacks of books saying I must be one of the only people with ridiculous stacks of books, but I secretly suspect there are others out there like me.



This bookshelf in the corner of my living room contains only our homeschooling books and my very favorite books. In other places I have other stacks of books I’m currently reading, want to read, and boxes of books I simply can’t part with.

In my opinion a book is not something you download and listen to on your MP3 player nor read on a fancy electronic device. A book has two covers and wonderful pages. A book has a feel to it, a weight, a heft and a delicious, unique smell all it’s own. There are certain books I own that it would be simply wrong to read in any other form than a REAL book.



This book is called, The Snuggle Bunny by Nancy Jewell. It’s out of print. My mom read it to my sister and I nearly every night growing up. She scoured the libraries and schools around Kansas City for copies that no one wanted anymore and finally found us each a copy. I read it now to my kids using the same voice inflections my mom did. Did you know the winter sun looks exactly like a hard boiled egg? It does. I always think of that, because of this book. Books conjure up wonderful imagery that stick with us forever.



Who is Paddy? by Elizabeth Cooper is also out of print. I first heard it when Daniel’s pre-school teacher read it to his class and I cried. I then scoured Amazon for it and found a copy. Paddy is compared to all kinds of animals that little boys often resemble; a pig because he is so dirty, a monkey because he is silly and eats bananas, a bear because he is grumpy in the morning, a turtle because he goes soooo s l o w l y up the stairs to bed, etc. This book exactly described my little boy and I loved it! The pictures are adorable. I love to read this book with Daniel all cuddled up by my side.



Folk Takes from the Far East is another book from my childhood. There are wonderfully, imaginative, magical stories in this book from India and the Far East. My mom found me a copy of this book a few years ago and I was so delighted to have it. It looks and feels and even smells exactly like the book my mom has, minus the green duct tape on the binding. My kids adore these stories as much as I did as a child.



Here is my battered, dog-eared, well-read copy of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Truly, could you read Anne on a Kindle? I think not. ‘Nuff said.

Long live the book! Long live the bookstore! Long live the library! Long live the joys of a wonderful novel, a hot cup of tea and a cozy fire on a winter day!