BOOKS ARE TO READ, but that is by no means the end of it.
The way they are bound, the paper they are printed on, the smell of them (especially if they are either very new or very old), the way the words are fitted to the page, the look of them in the bookcase—sometimes lined up straight as West Point cadets, sometimes leaning against each other for support or lying flat so you have to tip your head sideways to see them properly. Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher, the Pléiade edition of Saint Simon, Chesterfield's letters, the Qur'an. Even though you suspect you will probably never get around to them, it is an honor just to have them on your shelves.
Something of what they contain gets into the air you breathe. They are like money in the bank, which is a comfort even though you never spend it. They are prepared to give you all they've got at a moment's notice, but are in no special hurry about it. In the meanwhile they are holding their tongues, even the most loquacious of them, even the most passionate.
They are giving you their eloquent and inexhaustible silence. They are giving you time to find your way to them. Maybe they are giving you time, with or without them, just to find your way. (Frederick Buechner, HERE)
Not so long ago, I said "music is my home".
Today I realize that books are my SECOND home...
And I'm definitely in a book phase right now!
I go through phases too, and need to get reading again! I’ve been on a mini break.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't come across any books worth reading for awhile....now I'm on a roll again.
DeleteBooks, books, books, oh how I love the feel of one in my hands, and I especially love to smell them. I don't read as much as I used too, nor want to as it seems to take me longer to do the things I have to do. When I go to thrift stores I am always drawn to the book shelves, and think of the one that got away, I once saw a very old Anne of Green Gables very reasonable, actually cheap, and by passed it, only later to go and look for it to find it was gone.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
Blessings,
Sue
Oh! Me, too! (Thrift stores and bookshelves...)
DeleteI'm able to walk away easier than before, but every once and awhile, I give in.