I rarely buy clothes. I buy books.
Don’t misunderstand – I also love libraries. Unfortunately, in small towns, the libraries, and even the state library, often don’t have the books I want to read. They have to keep current books that many people want to read, and they have fairly small spaces to store them. Sometimes I do find a book I’d enjoy in the library book sales racks – usually only one or two people have borrowed the ones I’m interested in, and often no one has.
When I got back from F’ing Florida in April, I’d sent 19 books belonging to my friend, the Hoarder, back to NH because they looked like ones I’d enjoy reading. The weekend after I got back, the Sailor and I went to the 5 Colleges Book Sale and I got another two bags full of books; and in a basket on my bedroom floor was already another pile of books I’d acquired before the trip to F-FL from, mostly, Thriftbooks; and there was a giant pile of books covering the small bench behind my bed, within handy reach, plus a couple I was in the process of reading – including one 750-pager that I’d been reading at for a year but couldn’t concentrate on well enough, because I’d just not had time to read much during the last year while taking care of all the stuff that needed to be done leading up to moving my F-FL friend in March.
In April, finally back from F-FL and finished, I hoped, with the daily distractions F-FL represents, I had time to read again, and I was too tired to do much else; and besides, the weather wasn’t co-operating with any of the faint urges that sometimes rose in my consciousness to do something about the garden. So I read; and I filled a couple of small boxes with books I’d finished. The Scholar took most of those first boxes to his summer camp, and I continue to fill small boxes with finished books.
Now, I LOVE books. I have a lot of books; there are certain authors whose works I want all of: Twain, Austin, Hebert, Mosher, Roach, Sacks, Davies, Chappell, Maxwell, Moore, Miss Read, Heinrich, Bryson, Gorey, Penney, Bird, and others; and certain genres I’m especially fond of, of which I have a collection of each, filling a couple of bookshelves each: fantasy, restaurant kitchen insider stories, Celtic and old English works, books on language, certain children’s books and series, like Wind in the Willows and Alcott’s books, and books with excellent illustrations, like those by Allsburg, and Christmas ghost stories, and really old books from my grandparents’ day… And I read many of these over and over.
But I also LOVE making lists, because there’s nothing so satisfying as crossing something off a list; and for that matter, the actual making of the list is also very nice. So I made a list of the books waiting to be read – I just wish I’d done it when I first got home in April. So many books already read and gone, but not listed and not crossed off…sigh.
However, after I’d already passed about 20 books on to other people who will enjoy them, the list got made. There were 79 books on the list; since I made the list I’ve crossed off 18 titles. Most of the books go into small boxes, and I bring them, once filled, along with magazines I’ve finished, to the Tiptop Building and leave them on the “free benches” in the main hallway between the pottery shop and the Café, where all we tenants leave things we no longer need, for others to benefit from. I’ve picked up a few good books someone else left there, myself. And a few books get set aside to give to friends and family at Christmas, or on birthdays, when I find a book I know will be enjoyed by those people. And on that list, there are at least 10 that I know I’ll be shelving in my collections when I’ve finished reading them.
So here are a few observations about books and reading:
Large hardcover books make a noise that causes the startled cats to jump off the bed and flee when you fall asleep reading and they fall on the floor. Claws are generally involved.
Hardcover books are much more painful than paperbacks when you fall asleep reading in bed and instead of dropping on the floor, the book falls on your nose.
It’s hard to carry a 20-lb cat plus the two books you’ve been carrying around all day, plus a glass of drinking water, upstairs to bed at night. Use a book bag, and use an insulated water bottle instead of a glass; that way the bottle can also go in the book bag, and you won’t be drinking bugs with your water in the dark in the middle of the night when you wake up parched, the book covering your face, and with your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth; and you won’t drop the books on your feet as you climb the stairs juggling everything. It’s still hard to carry a 20-lb cat upstairs to bed at night – make him walk.
If you’ve gotten very comfortable with your books and a lap blanket in your favorite comfy chair, the cats will inevitably decide to lie on top of you and your book. If you move to the desk and lay the book on it, the cats will lie on the book and then roll onto their backs looking for tummy rubs. They will also shed and your mug of coffee or cup of tea or glass of water will surprise you with a thick layer of floating cat fur.
Hide the bookmarks – the cats will otherwise use them as toys. Teeth and claws will be involved.
If there’s the smallest amount of space left open on any bookshelf, when you can’t find the cat, that’s where he’ll be. If there isn’t room, he will toss enough books onto the floor to make room, so just look for the pile.
It is possible to brush your teeth and read at the same time. Not advisable to wash your face and read at the same time.
When the book you’ve been reading disappears, check the dog’s bed. How it got there will remain a mystery.
This year, especially, don’t take your book out to the garden to read: it will get soaked or blow away or both. You can’t successfully dry out a soaked book, but you can compost them.
Happy Reading!
For the blog: herondragonwrites.blogspot.com August 8, 2023
All photos Deb Marshall
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