I LOVE books. I always have. I was the first one in my kindergarten class to learn how to read. At the time I thought that was a terrible thing because it meant that I didn’t get nap time because I had to go read to the principal. I remember very vividly asking my teacher if I had to read to him because he couldn’t read – HA! Oh, to be that young again.
Every few months my school would send us home with the Scholastic book fair flyer and I would pick out at least a hundred dollars worth of books each time and my mom would always give in and get me every. single. one. She’s pretty awesome.
Anyway, it was evident from a young age that I loved to read because I love to learn. I’m a nerd like that. And with loving to read, every book was a treasure and of course that meant you couldn’t let any of them go. Well, I’ve broken the cardinal rule of book lovers – I’ve parted with almost all of my books.
See, I’ve moved several times and moving hundreds of books is exhausting. Not just because you have to separate them into a million boxes because they’re super heavy, but finding where your bookcases go, if you even have room for them can be a chore sometimes too. I know, I know…that doesn’t sound like a good reason, but when you move about 5 times in just as many years, and one of those moves puts you in a one-bedroom apartment with your new finance, you get the picture.
So now that we have a decent size house and plenty of room for bookcases, I have practiacally no books to fill them. 🙁 At one point in time, I donated most of my books figuring I’d never read them again and they were just going to sit in boxes somewhere and probably get ruined, so I might as well give them to someone who could use them. Now that I have no more school left and my major home projects are slowing down, I really want to devote more time to reading.
One of my favorite authors is Patricia Cornwell. Her books are like CSI meets Castle, only a million times more vivid and detailed and they’re absolutely addicting. I had been so proud of myself for reading everything she had written and keeping up with the Scarpetta series – until I let all my books go. O.M.G. I’m kicking myself right now for seriously getting rid of those books. Like really?? What was I thinking?? Ok, I know what I was thinking – “just donate the real books and download the e-versions on your iPad…you don’t need them taking up ALL. THAT. SPACE.”
Sigh. I was wrong. I’m not an e-book kind of girl. Nothing replaces the feeling of holding a real book. Don’t get me wrong, I have a plenty big library of e-books that I’ve perused on my various travels. When I’m at home though, I have to have a real one. So now, I’m back to the bookstore to fill up my bookshelves with as many books as I possibly can. One day, I hope to have an entire library/reading room like these I’ve favorited on Houzz.
