For the Love of Books

I love books. This is a simple statement with a lot of meaning behind it. Books drive my life forward in a way that nothing else can. I work in an independent bookstore, I am a literature major, I am even getting ready to apply to graduate school so I can get my masters in library science. All the things that are important in my life are driven by books. Why? Because books are fantastic, beautiful, majestic, exciting, lovely, magical, compelling, and so very much more.

These are a few of my favorite things ....

I love old hardcover books with gilded spines, marbled endpapers, lovely lettering, beautiful line drawings, musty smelling pages, places where the binding and pages are worn because of loving caresses. I love tall, majestic books, with rough edged paper, pages that are smooth to the touch, bold lettering that indicates the beginning of the chapter. Large, old picture books, with beautiful colors and fading, because the reader could not bare to stop loving it. I love when you can see where the book sat on its shelf, near its contemporaries, it sat there so long because it was well loved. I love when I pick up a book that has been well loved because I know that I will love it and treasure it just as much as its previous owner. I love when a book that is obviously old has not been touched because I can worship it for its majestic pages. I love when you can close your eyes and feel the bumps from a book that was read and re-read because its contents are so wonderful. I love when I can sit down in a crowded room and be totally grounded by the words on the page. I love it when I cry because the writing is just so beautiful that you cannot stand the feeling that it has produced. I love it when I cry because I cannot find one of my best book friends. I love to let go of a book and share its glory with others. I love the smell of new books, the crisp smell that reminds me of sun warmed fall leaves. I love book cases where the contents are organized by size, shape, and color. I love coming home and realizing that my books are waiting for me to caress them once again. I love that I can stack books and make pillars that will hold me up when nothing else does.

I love books. Its very simple. There is nothing better.

Happy reading!