Treasured Books

Isn’t it odd how much fatter a book gets when you’ve read it several times? As if something were left between the pages every time you read it. Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells, and then, when you look at the book again many years later, you find yourself there too, a slightly younger self, slightly different, as if the book preserved you like a pressed flower, both strange and familiar.

Cornelia Funke

As my book shelves overflow, I have a plan. When I run across a book I want to read, I first attempt to get it from the library. Preferable an eBook. I have been won over to the convenience of clicking on a book and two seconds later being able to read it on my iPad.

After reading a book if I decide it is something I will want to reread, I buy a hardcover copy for my library. This doesn’t prevent the library from growing, it just grows at a slower pace.I refuse to buy more bookshelves, although some shelves containing a DVD collection are slowly being overtaken with books. Reading material also resides on tables, shelves above my desk, in baskets, and stacked on the floor. There is always room for another book.

Some books, I read over and over, until I have memorized some of the passages. Others get, randomly, pulled off the shelf on a whim. Each time I read them I get a different perspective. Sometimes completely changing my opinion of what I’ve read. As I grow older, I become more fickle. I don’t feel guilty about changing my mind about a book.

The one thing that stays consistent is the importance of books in my live. Reading is like breathing. I can’t imagine living without books. This might be a good place to voice my feeling about the renewed affinity for banning books. If you object to a particular book, I support your right not to read it. When I feel the need to object is when you decide whether or not I can read it. Banning or burning books has never ended well. History has taught us that.