Books and More Books

I've been doing some good reading lately.

Which might explain some of the procrastinating that has been taking place on other jobs like housekeeping and Christmas preparation and even crafting.

There was a time when I always had my nose in a book. As a kid, I went to the library faithfully every Saturday when we went to town  to do errands, and always borrowed the limit of four (thick) books, which I finished long before the next week's visit. I remember my excitement when the limit was changed and I staggered out of the building with ten books weighing down my small self.

When I finished my education and was settled in a job in a new town, in short order I found and began to haunt the library there. Still later, after marriage and a family, I took our children to the library, too, and still managed to sneak in some books for myself, despite how little time I had to read.

Around the time that my father had his stroke in 2007, and things got extra busy for me, blogging was becoming popular. I had never found it easy to put down a good book until the last page was turned, so blogs were the perfect length for the short periods of time then available to me. Reading a full length book became a novelty.

As the busy years went by, I started to regard myself as a non-reader. In hindsight I understand that my focus had only shifted, from long stories to short ones, but it bothered me at the time that I no longer identified as an avid reader. I began to notice the extensive reading lists of some bloggers I admired (especially this one - thank you, EC), and tried to stir up my old passion for books.

It was hard at first. I had trouble concentrating on anything longer than a blog post. My brain seemed to have re-wired itself for short reading spurts only. As an aside, having seen this happen in myself, I believe it's probably even more of a problem for those who don't enjoy reading to begin with or aren't old enough to have developed the habit of reading lengthier material. If this could happen to me, a reader through and through, imagine how much easier it could happen to those who haven't developed the habit.

After persevering for a few months, I was able to read for longer and longer stretches of time without becoming restless, and my book-crazy self was reborn. When I began this blog seven months ago, I knew that keeping a list of books I read would be an important component, acting as both incentive and record.

Although we already have a huge number of books, I no longer borrow from the library. (Sorry, Librarian Steve!) The last few times I did, I kept forgetting to return them on time, and the embarrassment (and expense) together with the lack of selection pushed me to find an alternate source for my habit.

A local service group has an annual used-book sale, and although I've attended off and on through the years, it takes considerable time to sift through the chaff and find books I enjoy. This year the sale took place while I was in the midst of my hip/back problems, and because it was painful to walk or stand for extended periods of time, I ended up going for short outings on three different nights, which worked out well, and eventually ended up with forty books for a total of $50. It felt like I had found a buried treasure.  Since then, I have been wallowing in them, with at least two and sometimes more on the go at all times.

I don't know what I'll do for reading material after I've read them all, or just where we're going to put them, but for now I am happy to be a book person once more. I have my eye on a couple of local used book stores, and am trying to get a book exchange going at work (although that would require giving up my book babies, ha ha). We really need to figure out if we can weed our collection some more, but my husband will probably just build more bookshelves instead.