Random Stuff by Ruth: For Book Lovers

I come from a family of book lovers and readers. My mother's home is filled with books and magazines of all kinds stacked here and there and everywhere. Sometimes when I visit and I ask about a certain book, she says to me, 'That's probably in the garage. You're welcome to look if you'd like." I have yet to take her up on the offer, so I don't know what is in her garage...but years ago there were stacks of storage boxes, filled with...yep, books.

My step-mother loves paperback mystery novels and there is a really cool shelf in my parents house that is literally exploding with books. On one occasion, I was helping host a party at their house and I over heard a guest comment to another guest, "I can't believe all those books! They must spend so much money on books, it's ridiculous!" Her tone indicated she thought this was a waste of money. But I love that the thing my step-mom spends her money on is books and not trips to the mall or make-up or collecting trinkets.

I love reading bed time stories to my nephews. Many of the books on their shelves were on our shelves growing up. I am glad my mom saved those books and that the next generation of our family is enjoying them. At Christmas time, my nephew Levi allowed me to read him a book before his nap. This was the first time he'd let me read him a story and I took this to be a sign of trust and a huge step in the growth of our relationship.

Some of the books I read I check out from the library, borrow from friends, order from Amazon or pick up at one of the local used book stores. I also like to go to the Friends of the Library sales because on the last day you pay $4 for whatever fits in a bag. Then the leftover books get stacked on the 'free' shelf in the library basement. So most of the books I have in my possession I got at the library because they are such a good deal.

When some people travel, they like to try out the local bars and restaurants and museums. While I like doing that as well, I love visiting bookstores. When I went back to Prague, I went first to my favorite parks and my favorite book stores.

I love the comfort being around books brings to me. I used to keep all my books, but then when I moved to Prague I got rid of most of my stuff, including most of my books. Along with most of my other possessions at the time, I felt like I was putting things out into a great flowing, symbolic river of life. I figured the universe had brought the things into my life and I could trust that if I let go, the Great Cosmic River of the Universe would flow those items into the lives of people who needed them, and the things I needed most would flow back into my life when it was time.

And so now, I like to keep books and other things flowing in and out of my life as much as possible. In fact, I get really antsy when I feel like I have too much stuff around and frequently go through and 'purge' and do Goodwill runs. So for the majority of books I read, I don't keep. I started a book journal several years ago where I write down the name of the book, the author and the date I finished reading it. Then I give the book away. Usually I give it back to the Library so they can re-sell it in their book sale or I give it to a friend. I like book recycling. And if I ever want to read it again, I figure it'll be easy enough to find it again...either at the library or on the internet.

Don't get me wrong, I still have books on my shelf that I keep because I still want them or they have sentimental value. I have books written and signed by friends, books that were gifts from friends or about places I've traveled to, and even a book I found in a used book store in town and was almost going to put it back on the shelf because I knew my dad had it and I could borrow it from him. Then I flipped to a page with a note in the top margin in a very familiar handwriting that said, "Ruth, you need to read this!" Needless to say, I bought the book because I realized my dad didn't own it anymore, since I was holding 'his' book in my hand!

So one of my new year resolutions is to 1) read all the books in my possession I haven't read yet or pass them on to someone else. At my last count this totaled 53 books! (I enjoy the library book sales faster than I can read!)

Follow up, more long term goals are:

2) Read all the books written by Laurie R King. She is currently one of my favorite authors.

3)Read all the books written by Nelson DeMille about his character John Corey.

4)Read all the books written by Amy Tan.

5)Read all the books written by Milan Kundera.

In the spirit of books and the fun and joy they bring to life, here are a few fun videos about books!

This is called Organizing the Bookcase.