I'm writing this from a bank of computers at the public library. My favourite librarian with her familiar right sided limp, just stopped to chat for a few minutes. Libraries have always been a haven for me although this big, new library is not as comforting as its crowded older edition. I like to feel hugged by a building and it just doesn't feel that way when the ceiling is 25 feet high above me.It was a slow kind of day at work, the first of its kind since I started back to work last month. It was a nice change. There are times of the year when I can sit at my desk and read. This isn't one of them but it will come around again. Then I will be wishing for something to keep me busy. I'll take busy over bored any day.
In a little while I'll go look through the children's section of books. I have many favourite illustrators. One of my favourites is Tomie dePaola. I like children's books just as much as adult ones. Somewhere out in our shed I have a plastic container full of children's books. Dearest one wanted to chuck them because we haven't seen them for 5 years but I got all defensive and owly about it because I might not have room for them now but I will some day.
When I was a kid I used to bring home a stack of books from the library. I was so disappointed when I'd gone through the entire young adult section of the library. I think my biggest take home stack was 25 books. My mom was not impressed. She was the one who got the phone calls about overdue books. She was the only one of us who wasn't a reader. I remember once reading a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay in a weekly paper and being so struck by it that I wrote her a letter. I was only 15 years too late. Her name went on my list of must read books.I still keep such a list. Books I hope to read one day. Wish lists online, too. I have a stack of books balanced on my knees as I type. Pity only a few will fit between me and the computer desk. Ah, there isn't time to read many anymore but lately I've had the pleasure of reading a few. I hope you have, too.
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4 comments:
I have stacks of books all over the house. Books I've read, books I plan to give to others, books I need to read frequently, and lists (online and on paper) of books that I want. I have several books on order at our local library, as well as a couple of books coming by mail, too. The pleasure and good company found within the pages of a book is something that I just can't do without, either. :)
I have given up on lists of must-reads, but, as Providence provides, I'll read what comes along.
Tomi, an amazing artist: we treasure a copy of his Clown of God book.
I think I love picture books more as a grown-up than I did as a child - don't get rid of your stash yet; some favorites you can't find anymore!
I love books too, a sense of anticipation and joy wells up when I walk through the doors of a library or bookstore.
It's like there are thousands of lives whispering their secrets in many fonts on many pages.
In a book store, I am not alone. I am a character just like them, just black and white, just another page. I am freely lost in the world of make-believe.
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