"Mom!" my 12-year-old self pleads upon approaching the car where mom is sitting to pick me up from school.
"What is it?" she asks with concern, staring into eyes she describes as "honey-nutmeg-colored."
"It's an emergency!" I urge. "I need a book!"
My mother ardently states, "Then we simply MUST go to the bookstore! It IS an emergency, after all! I can't have my girl deprived of a book!"
My mother understands me.
So when I call her today, 20+ years later, to tell her that I stopped at Barnes&Noble for an emergency book, she shares her approval wholeheartedly.
If this love affair for books is genetic, I received it from my mother.
I have always loved books. As a child, I would sneak into the bathroom at night to read by the half-light of a nightlight. I cleverly concealed my disappearance using my Pleasant Company doll, Samantha, whose hair color was remarkably similar to mine, and pillows to fill in the body. My father caught me once. I could hear him say, "Goodnight sweetheart!" and then "Wait a minute. This isn't you.." My giggles in the bathroom revealed my location.
Since sneaking into the bathroom proved unsatisfactory, I used a flashlight under the covers. If encroaching foot steps sounded, I could quickly turn off the flashlight. Clever, huh?
My mom has always known what I was up to.
While pretending to study in my room, I would read one of my chosen books instead. "What are you doing?" She would ask. "Nothing," I assured her. "You wouldn't, by chance, be reading a book would you?" Caught. We would both laugh together.
How could I hide my addiction from a fellow book lover? Impossible. She has always provided me with books and an ample supply of booklights.
In middle school, I fit the exact description for "nerd" that so many movies attempt to capture. I had the glasses, braces, and was overweight. I was shorter then everyone in my class, but had big feet. The sock trend at the time transitioned from the socks you fold up to the socks that are hidden by the shoe. I didn't realize kids were wearing socks...which is a shame, thinking back to the smell of my sock-less wearing shoes. I looked like a clown and smelled like a locker.
I was gawky and very much a loner. What better way to escape then books? School provided me the perfect setting to engage in my love of books! I would spend nearly every brunch and lunch breaks consuming books as avidly as those delightful blue raspberry Airheads.
High School rolled around and I found the perfect job- one that would match my love of books! I got the "job" of working in the library for four years. [A big shout out to Ms. M, who encourages and supports my love of books and actually reads my blogs. You rock, Ms. M!]
The challenge I faced in my high school English classes was that I would rather read my books than do anything else. After completing assignments, I would pull out my "home book" and read. My English Language teacher summed it up in her yearbook quote to me. Something along the lines of: "Dear Dara, you were the only student who ever had the gall to read books in front of me...in the front row. I'll miss you." In my defense, I completed the assignments first. I love books so much that I dedicated multiple writing assignments to this very topic!
In this day and age when people are opting for electronic books, I still prefer my real books. I understand the benefits of electronic books, particularly for school. Instead of hefting a 15 lb Pathophysiology textbook three miles uphill in Baltimore, a textbook which was never used (except as a weight and drink holder) because the professor rightfully decided it was inadequate, I could have had the ease of an online book- accessible and lightweight. Yet, still expensive.
When it comes to personal reading choices, I choose books. I am an outdoorsy and somewhat clumsy individual. I drop books. I get water on them accidentally, single-handedly destroying 2 math textbooks in middle schools because of open water bottles. I really really READ them... My mom can always tell if I've read her book by its state. Are the pages bent or folded? Does it look like the book has seen an adventure of its own? If the answers are yes, then she knows I have read her book. If ever she offers a book we will both read to me first, I typically decline because it will not come back pristine. I love the texture, smell, and energy of a real book. And despite the urging of technologically savvy individuals to modernize my archaic book sensibilities, I decline. My books don't lose battery power.
I like to read wherever I am. I can read walk far more efficiently then people attempt to text and walk. I have never read-walked myself into a pole, pool, or person. Nor have I tripped over curbs while read-walking. I enjoy reading on public transportation- from Australian trams to Fijian buses. And how could I have successfully navigated alone through Thailand without my language book?
If Dr. Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham about books, my version would be:
I could read them here, I can read them there.
I love my books everywhere.
I have read them in clubs, I have read them in a tubs,
I have read them on planes, I have read them on trains,
Oh I do love my books you see
I have even read in a tree
I have read so many books
Even those written by cooks
I really do love books. When I walk into a bookstore, I feel like I'm at home.
I have made my home in bookstores across the United States, in Australia, and England. I love the smell, feel, and ambiance of bookstores. The local bookstores particularly warm my heart, and tend to be locations that yield the greatest treasures. For example, I found a Practical Manual of Mental Medicine from 1894 at Book Bazaar Inc in Sarasota Florida which presents a somewhat frightening portrait of medical practices at the time. Fascinating!
I love all types of books. Each book provides insight into the writer's or writers' heart(s). Writers have the power to take a person out of this world into an alternate universe, like A Brave New World. They can transcend social barriers, as Mary Shelley, or highlight disparities, as Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Books make a difference in people's lives. The Barnes & Noble in Santa Clarita was selling books today to be donated to children at the local Children's Hospital, for example.
I am grateful to all the writers out there, bringing emotional catharsis to readers, especially me. I am a most ardent lover of books. Alexandre Dumas: you are amazing. You are the Count of Monte Cristo! Alexandra Potter: you inspire me to laughter and tears. Susan Wiggs: you wield stories that touch my heart. Stephen King and RL Stine, you ignite my fear. I love it all.
Whenever I am lost, I always find myself in a bookstore.
"What is it?" she asks with concern, staring into eyes she describes as "honey-nutmeg-colored."
"It's an emergency!" I urge. "I need a book!"
My mother ardently states, "Then we simply MUST go to the bookstore! It IS an emergency, after all! I can't have my girl deprived of a book!"
My mother understands me.
So when I call her today, 20+ years later, to tell her that I stopped at Barnes&Noble for an emergency book, she shares her approval wholeheartedly.
If this love affair for books is genetic, I received it from my mother.
I have always loved books. As a child, I would sneak into the bathroom at night to read by the half-light of a nightlight. I cleverly concealed my disappearance using my Pleasant Company doll, Samantha, whose hair color was remarkably similar to mine, and pillows to fill in the body. My father caught me once. I could hear him say, "Goodnight sweetheart!" and then "Wait a minute. This isn't you.." My giggles in the bathroom revealed my location.
Since sneaking into the bathroom proved unsatisfactory, I used a flashlight under the covers. If encroaching foot steps sounded, I could quickly turn off the flashlight. Clever, huh?
My mom has always known what I was up to.
While pretending to study in my room, I would read one of my chosen books instead. "What are you doing?" She would ask. "Nothing," I assured her. "You wouldn't, by chance, be reading a book would you?" Caught. We would both laugh together.
How could I hide my addiction from a fellow book lover? Impossible. She has always provided me with books and an ample supply of booklights.
In middle school, I fit the exact description for "nerd" that so many movies attempt to capture. I had the glasses, braces, and was overweight. I was shorter then everyone in my class, but had big feet. The sock trend at the time transitioned from the socks you fold up to the socks that are hidden by the shoe. I didn't realize kids were wearing socks...which is a shame, thinking back to the smell of my sock-less wearing shoes. I looked like a clown and smelled like a locker.High School rolled around and I found the perfect job- one that would match my love of books! I got the "job" of working in the library for four years. [A big shout out to Ms. M, who encourages and supports my love of books and actually reads my blogs. You rock, Ms. M!]
The challenge I faced in my high school English classes was that I would rather read my books than do anything else. After completing assignments, I would pull out my "home book" and read. My English Language teacher summed it up in her yearbook quote to me. Something along the lines of: "Dear Dara, you were the only student who ever had the gall to read books in front of me...in the front row. I'll miss you." In my defense, I completed the assignments first. I love books so much that I dedicated multiple writing assignments to this very topic!
In this day and age when people are opting for electronic books, I still prefer my real books. I understand the benefits of electronic books, particularly for school. Instead of hefting a 15 lb Pathophysiology textbook three miles uphill in Baltimore, a textbook which was never used (except as a weight and drink holder) because the professor rightfully decided it was inadequate, I could have had the ease of an online book- accessible and lightweight. Yet, still expensive.
When it comes to personal reading choices, I choose books. I am an outdoorsy and somewhat clumsy individual. I drop books. I get water on them accidentally, single-handedly destroying 2 math textbooks in middle schools because of open water bottles. I really really READ them... My mom can always tell if I've read her book by its state. Are the pages bent or folded? Does it look like the book has seen an adventure of its own? If the answers are yes, then she knows I have read her book. If ever she offers a book we will both read to me first, I typically decline because it will not come back pristine. I love the texture, smell, and energy of a real book. And despite the urging of technologically savvy individuals to modernize my archaic book sensibilities, I decline. My books don't lose battery power.
I like to read wherever I am. I can read walk far more efficiently then people attempt to text and walk. I have never read-walked myself into a pole, pool, or person. Nor have I tripped over curbs while read-walking. I enjoy reading on public transportation- from Australian trams to Fijian buses. And how could I have successfully navigated alone through Thailand without my language book?
If Dr. Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham about books, my version would be:
I could read them here, I can read them there.
I love my books everywhere.
I have read them in clubs, I have read them in a tubs,
I have read them on planes, I have read them on trains,
Oh I do love my books you see
I have even read in a tree
I have read so many books
Even those written by cooks
I really do love books. When I walk into a bookstore, I feel like I'm at home.
 |
| A photograph with Bob, the resident of Recycle Bookstore in Campbell California |
I love all types of books. Each book provides insight into the writer's or writers' heart(s). Writers have the power to take a person out of this world into an alternate universe, like A Brave New World. They can transcend social barriers, as Mary Shelley, or highlight disparities, as Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Books make a difference in people's lives. The Barnes & Noble in Santa Clarita was selling books today to be donated to children at the local Children's Hospital, for example.
I am grateful to all the writers out there, bringing emotional catharsis to readers, especially me. I am a most ardent lover of books. Alexandre Dumas: you are amazing. You are the Count of Monte Cristo! Alexandra Potter: you inspire me to laughter and tears. Susan Wiggs: you wield stories that touch my heart. Stephen King and RL Stine, you ignite my fear. I love it all.
Whenever I am lost, I always find myself in a bookstore.
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