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.
