A Stack of One

     

     There is an odd sort of kinship that exists among avid readers, and I count myself among both those groups;odd and an avid reader, a certified proud member of each group for many a year.  Many hard-core readers cannot let go of a good book we've read: it seems almost sacrilegious, like you are kicking a good friend out of the house. I considered myself among the keep every book group for quite a while until moving too many boxes of books too often lead to us finally parting ways. It dawned on me that I had so many I was using boxes of books for an end table or a night stand, and though it sure saved money on furniture here and there it didn't make a lot of sense keeping them all anymore. During one stretch I even had a stack holding up the broken corner of a waterbed pedestal, until the bed went to the best place for all waterbeds to go - to someone else’s house.  I’m sure if I had kept every book I had ever owned and read I would probably have at least one room in this house I could no longer use. I wonder how many books can fit in a 9’ x 10’ room with a 8’ ceiling and still allow you to open the door? Is anyone up for the challenge? Yeah, me neither.  I don’t keep a lot of books around anymore, most of them are specific niche type stuff, I have a few others that are out of print and several reference books, including an 1858 Webster’s Dictionary reprint and 1931 Webster’s unabridged edition that could inflict some damage if it was thrown at you; it weighs about 15 lbs. After being accustomed to having several hundred books stacked all around for so many years it feels like practically nothing.

     I began to use the local libraries quite a bit more after I moved here to Arizona.  We have some good ones locally, and they became a source of good free entertainment; a library card is free and I didn't have to find a lot of room for the few books I carted home, plus I discovered some authors I had never read before. The one drawback of course was dropping off the ones I had read, fully intent on not picking up more. Then I'd hear that little voice say “just take a quick look” to see if there is anything new, which inevitably lead to another stack going home under my arm; just like a kid in a penny candy store with a 5 dollar bill in his pocket.

     Books and reading were the catalysts to the prologue of my relationship with my wife. I happened upon her one day, just sitting on a bench, reading, in the smokers alley behind where we both used to work. I noticed she was reading one of P.N. Elrod's Vampire Files and mentioned I liked that series too. The conversation got around to authors and books we were both fans of, like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Conan Doyle and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I thought I had overstepped my welcome when she told me that we shared a similar pet peeve; why do some people feel the need to start a conversation with you when you are trying to read?  We decided they must be none readers and don’t understand the concept of, “I’m reading a book leave me alone.”  Our story unfolded as any good one does, though this one we just keep writing it as it goes along. She has read a lot of the classics, myself I watched a lot of classic cartoons and really only read the classics that were stuffed down my throat in public school. We both have rather eclectic taste in our reading and we each have ventured into genres that neither of us expected too.  That is one of the great aspects of liking to read there are always authors to discover.  It is not uncommon to end our days, each with their own reading or to spend the start of a lazy weekend day sitting side-by-side each with a book over morning coffee. It is great just sitting next to the person you love and both doing your own thing together.

     A few years ago at Christmas my wife asked for a Kindle Fire and being one that liked books that I could hold in my hand I was not entirely convinced this was a good thing. When E-readers and the Kindle appeared on the scene I bemoaned the change on the horizon, which in hindsight I must admit was rather short-sighted of me. Needless to say from day one her Kindle has been by her side and she keeps it handy on Sundays to track Fantasy football online. She said it’s one of the best presents I ever got here, other than me. When Father’s Day rolled around the following June guess what I got for a present?  Yep, I got my very own Kindle Fire. Watching me futz around with the touchscreen was a great source of hilarity for her: hell it still is any time I am near a touchscreen.  The “I like to hold a real book in my hands” argument at this juncture holds water like a colander.  I’m hooked and mine goes everywhere with me too, though I admit I've surprised myself to say the least at how often I use it. This definitely is not a device for someone that likes coffee table books and since I use my coffee table as a place to put my feet on while I read for me it’s a perfect fit.  I like that it is backlit and there is no need to go fumbling for the bedside lamp after I fall asleep with it on my face: I just turn it off and set it aside in its nightly resting place. I think the book size and feel of it made it easy to adapt to, being a bit different than reading page after page on a computer screen, which I do not care for in the least. 

     The best part, well the two best parts, are it was gifted to me by my lady love and I can have a stack of books to read at my disposal at all times and they all fit in this one little space. Since I have no concern about finding a place to stack them, my list to be read is rather large at this point in time, though for all intents and purposes it remains a stack of  one. As I pen this missive I see by the clock on the wall, and the yawn’s floating across the keyboard it is fast approaching that feet on the coffee table time here in paradise so I am off to the couch with today’s choice tome. Good Night and Happy Reading.