Buy the Book [Tall Drink of Nerd] [Book Week II]

There are probably around a dozen books in my library that I either haven’t started or haven’t finished. It’s a shame, sort of. A few are loaners from family that I’ll get to when everything else around me is exhausted. Several I purchased because I love the author, and the premise sounded interesting, but I get distracted by shiny new stories, so I lay those older books aside, promising to pick them up at the soonest opportunity. And admittedly, there are a couple who I’m half-way through but found myself getting so overwhelmed or bored with minute detailing of history (I’m looking at you 1491) that I had to book mark them and cleanse my mind with some YA before even thinking of cracking them open again. A good number, of these neglected tomes, are books on writing.

So my house is over-run with books. Also, I live with somebody who has lots of books of their own. If I mention wanting to buy a new and exciting book, he’ll eyeball the stack of unread novels and history books precariously perched on the nightstand next to my pillow. “Why do you want to buy another book when you still have these to read?” (It should be noted that this person always gifts me with at least one book on Christmas and birthdays.) Since I’m not made of money, and my storage space is finite, the library is my go-to book fix. Libraries are easy. Borrow a book and then hand it back once you’ve thoroughly examined it’s world. But some of those books affect me so much, I must own them.

There is an odd power that story has over a person. When it really connects, it’s as if a piece of my soul is living in this writer’s created world. These are the stories that need to live close to me, in my house. I need to have them near, even if I don’t re-read them for years. I carry around a copy of Geek Love like it’s my family photo album. Instead of loaning my copy to people for them to read, I’ll just buy them a new copy. That came from a lesson learned with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. My original copy of that was loaned out, my replacement copy was loaned out, my other replacement copy was loaned out. That’s 3 different people who now have a copy of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I never got it back. When I bought it again, from our local charity rummage sale, that guy who lives with me asked “Don’t you already have that?” No. But I need to.

There are loads of books on my iPad. Taking multiple books on vacation? Advantage technology. But there is something romantic about holding bound paper or letting my eyes meander over the colorful spines arranged along the bookshelf. Memories of characters float up. A well written story is like a good, old friend. So even though there is a stack of unread books in my home, new stories will flow in. What’s the book that you must have in your library? If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them. It’s always good to find a new story and a new good friend.

featured image credit: Sharon Drummond

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