“The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.” – Pablo Neruda
I’m addicted to books like butterflies are addicted to flowers … — Photo by Pat Bean
Books are like a Road Trip for this Non-Wandering Wanderer
I’m addicted to books. But then you probably already know that if you read my blog even infrequently. I should have an “I Brake for Bookstores” sticker on my vehicle’s bumper – because I do.
Walking up and down aisles filled with the work of beloved authors, smelling the crispness of paper and ink, and reading first pages of books with exotic titles, gives me a John Denver high without the Rocky Mountains. My purse is always lighter after such an experience. While I allow myself the luxury of buying one book each time I visit a bookstore, the plan doesn’t always work.
… and lizards are addicted to rocks. — Photo by Pat Bean
On one recent visit, the treasures I couldn’t live without included “The Creative License,” an art instruction book by Danny Greggory that I found on a sale rack; “Living on the Wind,” a book about bird migration by Scott Weidensaul; and a mystery by Sara Peretsky, whose heroine V. I. Warshawski brings Chicago alive to the reader better than most travel writers.
When I later tried to balance my limited budget, I chastised myself and promised I would go to the public Library more. It’s easier to do now that I’m not wandering the countryside in my RV, Gypsy Lee, on a daily basis. But not foolproof, as my Amazon purchases can attest. .
I use Amazon – couldn’t live without my Kindle – for any specific book I simply must have within the next 60 seconds.
A better plan, when I can wait a few days, is to put the book I want on an online Pima County Library request list. My branch library then notifies me when they have the book ready for me to pick up.
It’s a marvelous service.
But I also like to lazily browse the library bookshelves when I have the time, and pick out a few books I wouldn’t otherwise read. I usually always leave with a fantasy, a mystery, a travel book and an art book.
I also like to begin at the first shelf in a library room and peruse it down the line until I come across a book that looks interesting. On the next visit, I pick up where I left off and repeat.
It’s a fascinating trick that helps me learn something new each day.
My library habits, however, pale to those of Ray Bradbury, who spent three days a week for 10 years reading every book in a library. He said it was better than any college education he could have received.
Blog pick of the day. Check it out.
Bean Pat: Writers will understand http://tinyurl.com/lusjka6 This blog gave me my first laugh of the day.
You describe some of my habits Pat. Even second hand book stores are not forgotten! Currently any book on crochet draws me.
Currently art books are high on my priority list. But at other times it’s mysteries, or fantasies or something else. Thanks for commenting Colline
I could read all day and night.
Sometimes I do Pit.
What an interesting bit about Bradbury! I would SO like to do that. 🙂
He also said that at the end of those 10 years, he had written a 1,000 stories. And me, too, Alex.