Don't you just love old books?
Maybe you can't judge them by their covers, but you can love the covers for their own sakes. The colors. The art. The well-loved, much-handled textures.
I have a lot of books, and I can't bear to part with them.
Some of them are from the bookshelves in my parents' house.
Some of them are from the bookshelves in my great aunt's house. I spent a lot of summer days with her, learning to embroider, and crochet, and tat. And I was intrigued by the treasures on her shelves. And she was eager to talk to me about them. Some are inscribed by family members from when they were Christmas gifts. At least one has notes written in the margins by my great-grandfather about the Nebraska farmland that was his stomping ground, brought to life for me by books written by a local author. The funny thing was that I was acquainted with the author...fell in love with her stories, drawn as if by a magnet...from my school library several states away. I was surprised to see her titles and name on my aunt's shelves. She was surprised that I was already acquainted with them. She sent them home with me to love into the future.
I gladly accept that responsibility.
Someone said to me once, "He who dies with the most books wins, right?"
ReplyDeleteI told her, "I've always thought so!"
:)
Oooh what a lovely post! I too love old books!
ReplyDeleteI love this post, I love old books. Their smell, the way they feel, the discolored pages, the typewriter print...all of it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Steph said. I'm wondering....out of all of the book lovers in our family, who will win?
I love old books too-and I love the illustrations from old books, especially children's books. So who is author you loved so much?
ReplyDelete"C" and I read all the Marguerite Henry horse books--and loved them!! My very favorite was "King of the Wind". In Jr. High I discovered that Marguerite Henry was my science teacher's dear friend! V.
Thanks, y'all. Because SOME people just think I'm a clutter bug.
ReplyDeleteAnd V, the author was Bess Streeter Aldrich. I haven't read any of her work in a long time. I need to grab one of them off the shelf and open it.