Books

I had started to miss my books the way one would miss old friends.

In the move, I had put a few books in many boxes (to keep my boxes manageable). It was a good moving strategy, but it did make it tough to find my books. And let's face it, once we got to the house, it was much more important to find dishes and warm clothes and get the bathroom organized. I like food, warmth and showers. So the books got forgotten and only today did I get some of them put out.

I don't buy a lot of books. I go to the library because I lack the ability to savor a good book and I lack the willpower to stick with a bad one. If I like a book, I'll finish it in two or three days. If I don't like it, I'll try to read it, but I'll get sidetracked by a better book, cooking dinner or whatever junk is on TV. I love to read, but I expect to be entertained. I want funny, I want thought-provoking, I want interesting and informational. As I learned in grad school, searching for literary symbolism or subtext isn't my greatest skill. I did it well enough to pass my classes, but I was never a star and I never liked it.

So the books I own are a fairly select group. Most were gifts or were books I needed for school or something I bought on vacation. Those books sitting on my shelf are stories, but they also remind me of a time or a person in my life. Let me tell you about a few....

The Giving Tree. This is the oldest book on my shelf. I'd probably cry if I read it today, but the story is a classic.

Gone with the Wind (my copy was my first purchase when I moved to Boulder; the first copy I read was my grandmother's copy from 1939 or so) and Around the World with Auntie Mame (my dad's copy first, held together by rubber bands). I read both of these books several times in junior high because they are fun stories that completely pulled me in.

Italian Visual Language Guide (Barron's). I used this in Italy last year and it's a great guide. User friendly and logical. I'd recommend the Barron's Visual Language Guides to anyone.

The Basque History of the World (Mark Kurlansky). This was a gift from Dad, who loved it first. Here's how I'd describe it: A history book filled with recipes that is engrossing enough that I READ IT AT THE POOL. That's a good book.

Coyotes (Ted Conover). I used to assign this book in school and even tenth grade boys liked it.

Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert). This is the book I finished most recently (yesterday).

I could go on for days about my books, but it might get a little boring. (Come on, who really wants to hear about my beloved reference books in Spanish?) I still have some unpacking to work on--I have a few favorite books that I still haven't found. They've got to be somewhere around here.

Keep reading.