Books

I love books! I devour them. I read super fast, so they never last long enough for me. I’m always looking for something to read, although I have to limit myself somewhat. Once I get on a reading roll, I have a hard time doing anything else.

I was really happy to get a chance to read while we were on vacation. I raided CJ and Amy’s bookshelves and I was thrilled to get my hands on A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I had been wanting to read it ever since I read Kite Runner. I think he is an amazing writer, and I think his stories are very important and need to be heard. So that was cool.

I also got to read Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, which is another one that has been on my list for awhile. I am definitely going to have to get my hands on a copy of that one. It’s a short little book, but it is packed with wisdom and words to live by. I am amazed that it was originally published in 1955!

In my house there are two “classes” of books. Since we don’t have a public library with English books remotely near us, I buy books in the 1-3 euro room of used bookstores, but usually those are ones I plan on parting with. Then there are books we buy to keep. Mostly we buy those when we are in the U.S. and can browse though used bookstores.

First, I need to clear something up: It’s my fault we didn’t post yesterday. Now that my conscience is clear *whew!*, we can address the topic at hand…

I love books. If I had enough money, I’d love to increase our budget for buying books five-fold. I could spend all day (literally!) in a Barnes & Noble bookstore. I’d go through the shelves of most sections book by book, if I had the time and, if I knew I could spend, say, 500 dollars in one go on purchases, I’d make a big fat list during my browsing, take the list home and carefully plot which ones I’d buy.

My thematic priorities are as follows (pretty much in this order)…

Theology
Poetry
History
Classics
Philosophy
Drama
Children’s Books (from Dr. Seuss to “chapter books”)
Fiction (a wide variety)
Biographies

I rarely read books more than once. If I refer to a book after I’ve read it, that’s only because I remember a particular passage and pull it off the shelf to find something very specific I need.

Last note: I’ve always known a handful of Robert Frost’s poems before. I am just finishing up an anthology of Frost poems. He is very good. If you don’t know his stuff well, I encourage you to read him.