Peter's parents bought the books but Laura's required her to borrow them from the library. She objected, how could she build her library if she was forced to borrow the entire summer reading list? At 17 I was busy building a closet of wool sweaters, this book idea could be shelved for years to come.
What remains of the collection I amassed in the mid 80's? The Catcher in the Rye, The Preppy Handbook, Linda Goodman's Sun Signs, and several moth nibbled wool sweaters. But we're sinking, somewhere between there and here I developed a real need to fill my home with books, books of all kinds, and with the introduction of children almost five years ago, a whole new genre filling the shelves.
Of course most of my reading time is devoted to books with less than 20 pages, and plenty of pictures. Our current favorites being anything by Bill Peet or Beatrix Potter, or books taking place in France: The Happy Lion, Anatole and Seven Uncles Come to Dinner (out of print and worth finding). And when Mary and Kate go to bed, after I've done all the things required in post children time, I'm faced with a choice: read, write or collapse. The draw of a lazy evening spent on the front porch has brought me back to reading, thankfully, and the books I reach for are frequently memoirs; I just finished Assisted Loving by Bob Morris and am now reading Mimi Sheraton's Eating My Words. I'll read anything Bill Bryson writes, he writes like I think, and his books are deliciously funny accounts of his daily life.
And while my book acquiring far outweighs my book consumption, I am happy to have a library of wonderful choices from which to chose. Certainly Laura does as well, she may not have the standouts that I held onto from high school but time and years spent in school have assuredly allowed her to reach to her own collection when faced with the what shall I read dilemma. Of course she is always welcome to peruse the stacks at our house, although that may mean a few turns through Madeline or Babar before finding books that require a bookmark.
It's the least I can do, to thank the person who taught me how important it is to have a library to call your own, and to work to build something that really matters.
NorthSideFour: You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child. Dr. Suess
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5 comments:
You are a brilliant writer; I can hear you through the words. I am told that represents a true gift. Authenticity.
While it may not represent a "deliciously funny account" of daily life, I do hope your library holds a copy of my all-time favorite read: "East of Eden." That, and Harper Lee's, "To Kill A Mockingbird;" while the movie was great, the book is somehow even better.
Rob, you are kind, thank you. There is a copy of East of Eden lurking around somewhere and To Kill A Mockingbird is my very favorite book. In fact, that might be a relic from the 80s, quite likely. M&K know the story, the abridged version, Boo is a great learning tool, even for a four year old. Thank you!
still, to this day, can not read a book if someone else has read it first. must be new, with fresh binding and no dog eared pages, coffee stains, or highlighting. made for a very expensive college experience as i would not read a single a used book. i did not want sloppy seconds. i did not want to know what was worth bookmarking or underlining to someone else. not sure what i will do with this whole Kindle/amazon electronic books thing.
It seems as if there is a void of non-fiction of such modern classics as: The Warthog and the Close Air Support Debate or Sled Driver. You need a bit of reality now and then....
I've been offline for a couple of days and just now read this. I have a ton of books, mostly scholarly stuff from my grad school and professor days, and I don't know if I'll ever look at them again, but I can't seem to get rid of them! Thanks for bringing back the wonderful memory of schlepping to the JCCC library to try to find those books. They were hardly ever there because someone swifter got to them first and I ended up getting Cliff's Notes half the time. For shame!
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