An Addiction

I admit it. I love books. I can’t get enough of them. It is very difficult for me to pass a bookstore without going inside. I stockpile them. Believe me, this little pile is only a portion of the books I have not read yet. They are stashed everywhere. Novels, non-fiction, biography, decorating, knitting, crochet, quilting, self-help, spiritual…you name it. My name is Claudia and I am a book addict.

I’ve been this way since I was a child. There was nothing better than reading – nothing. I was that child that had to be strongly encouraged to “Go Outside and Play.” I was always much more comfortable sitting in a chair reading. Or sitting on the porch reading. Or lying in bed reading. My weekly visit to our Bookmobile made me so happy. Miss McHenry was our Bookmobile librarian. She sat behind her desk and stamped our books out. I remember a time when all I would check out were books with red covers – a big stack of red books. You know the feeling? A whole new stack of unread books! I’ve always had more books on hand than I have had time to read. I like it that way. My idea of hell is traveling on the subway, on a commuter train, by plane and not having a book or enough books for the journey. Heaven forbid!

Do you have the same addiction? I freely admit to it. I think books enrich our lives beyond measure. And its not only reading the book, its holding the book in my hands, feeling the page under my fingertips, looking at the font, folding down the corner to mark my place – all of it. That’s why I have trouble with books on tape, or books on computer…they are not for me. I have to read the words on the page with my own voice in my head, not someone else’s. My imagination is sparked and I embark on a wondrous journey.

Perhaps I should have entitled this “An Ode to Books.”