The anticipation of unread books

I've talked to Stephanie more the past couple of weeks than we normally talk in a month (or more)... all because she's been taking the kids to swimming lessons each morning.

When the cell phone rang yesterday morning, I answered it with "this is your last day!". Then I thought I should be more specific... the last day of lessons, not her last day of breathing. :)

Anyhoo... one of the subjects we were talking about this last week was how one is not truly a bibliophile unless you have books stacked someplace... implying one has more books than room for shelves.

I've had to get rid of lots of books after moving to a smaller house. Some went to New England (almost all my "classic" homemaking and homeschooling books) but many were given to the library or Goodwill. It meant making hard choices but ending up with the most important and cherished.

There is no room to squeeze in another bookshelf... but that hasn't stopped me from collecting more books... especially at library sales and thrift stores where I can purchase a book for a dollar.

I mean, really, there are new books coming out and I've developed more a taste for novels than I did in the homeschooling years (probably because I have more time to read them!).

Which poses the question why one buys more books when it means starting a new stack beside the bed, or behind the wingback chair, or stuffed between the large bookshelves and the wall or...

...on the living room coffee table where this is hardly any room left for a cup of tea and a snack?

I think it's all about the anticipation of knowing we have not one, not two, but dozens of books ready should there be the available time to prop our feet up and read... and read... and read. Not that we necessarily would mind you, read dozens of books at one time... it's knowing that we could if we wanted.

There is just something about having unread books on the shelf that excites me with the possibility of opening that front cover and finding... treasure. Especially if it is written by an author I've already read and loved.

I have history, biography, and other nonfiction books waiting to be read. It never fails... on a particular snowy afternoon or rainy evening... I start thinking of a book which has been waiting patiently on the shelf for that moment it will be removed and treasured.

Sometimes the book is not on a shelf but at the bottom of a stack next to my bed, causing all others to come tumbling down in jealousy that they were not chosen first.

I do enjoy re-reading books very much. Actually, if I'm feeling tired or distracted, I often choose an old favorite to lose myself in again. It's a safe and secure destination which I've visited before... there will be no surprises... I know I will end up with warm and cozy feelings. Just this morning I took my favorite Elizabeth George book off the shelf, the one I've read over and over... but a perfect choice to peruse while sitting in a doctor's office waiting room.

But most of the time I'm willing to jump in and become immersed with new thought, or a new plot, or learning more about someone I admire... perhaps looking at a Bible passage in a way I'd never thought or learning wisdom from one who has walked this path before.

I hope you have at least one stack of books. :)