Books Saved My Life

…which is why I was going to title this post Why I Hoard Books and Will Never Stop. By the time you finish reading this article, I have a feeling you’ll understand why.

I’ll start with a polarizing statement: the book is always better than the movie. I apologize if that comes across high-and-mighty. I don’t mean to be pretentious. I’m simply emotionally biased because books saved my life.

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I could’ve played outside with my friends, and many times I did—never noticing the cracks in the cobbled playground or graffiti on the walls; but sooner or later, I’d have to go back inside. 

The early 70s were different, and although we had a television, vinyl records, and fun games like Jacks, Kick-The-Can, and Double-Dutch jump rope, we certainly didn’t have the technological advances we have today. But, if I’m being honest, that’s something I actually miss.

It was a humble childhood, but I was clothed, fed, and loved. Music could be heard any time of day, impromptu dancing was encouraged, and at any given moment, my mother could be found chatting in the kitchen with my aunts, my grandmother dutifully positioned at the stove, cooking something delicious. 

The close family bonds helped me form a pragmatic, almost detached perspective on the poverty that society constantly reminded me I was cast into. I remained unaffected because I bore no conception of wealth or lack thereof. And besides, I held a tantalizing secret…

The world was at my fingertips because I read books, and when I read, the universe was mine!

I read every fairy tale I could get my hands on, tearing the pages and bindings from overuse. By age 7, the romance of a well-worn book had me under its spell.

I read textbooks, on purpose (Nerdy Girls Unite!). I’d “borrow” books from neighbors on Fridays and quietly return them on Sundays.

One summer, I read an entire dictionary, taking careful steps to pronounce each word properly.  I was excited by the feel of the foreign words on my lips: per-son-i-fi-ca-tion, ser-vi-ci-bi-li-ty, a-mor-ous. How Enchanting!

Another summer, I traveled far and away to Infinity and Beyond, reading all the volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica. A salesman came knocking at our door, but we couldn’t afford the coveted compendium.  Luckily, my best friend’s parents could.

Every few days, I’d mosey on down to her apartment, grab a volume, read it, then pick up the next volume and start all over again.

I read all about the Taj Mahal, the Seven Wonders of the World, an airplane engine, and photosynthesis. I learned about orchids and their Latin root words, immediately referencing last summer’s dictionary for proper pronunciation.

Shockingly, my once-idolized best friend had no desire to read them!  She’d drone on about how she was soon to live with her favorite aunt, aching to get away from our neighborhood as fast as possible.

I, on the other hand, didn’t feel any great yearning to leave my neighborhood. With every turn of the page, I escaped often, and with ease.

Reading Leads to Self-Development

I learned and improved upon myself through reading:

• Proper tools of observation
• New perspectives and outlooks
• Honing Intuition
• Courage
• When & how to listen and keep quiet (I’ve only just “mastered” the latter)
• And enticing little tidbits like how to spot backstabbers

I studied a great deal of academic and philosophical concepts, all before I was 10 years old! Utterly marvelous!

Books taught me that all things were not only probable, but possible. I believed it, and so it was true. 

Then things got interesting when puberty hit…

I Believe in Books

I  believe in educating ourselves. The ability to communicate and convey information via the written word is a gift I don’t care to squander. 

Reading costs relatively nothing, teaches everything, and crosses socioeconomic boundaries. All you have to do is visit the local library, thrift store, or second-hand book shop.

For the digitally inclined, the 21st Century offers free access to hundreds of classics. With the purchase of an ebook reader, or the installation of a book reader application on your mobile device, you can be well on your way to hours and hours of literary pleasure.

Oftentimes, when called on for advice, I’d simply recommend a book: “Here, read this. I think you’ll learn all you’ll need to know.” 

They might not always take my recommendations, but that’s okay. After all, you can lead a horse to water…

If you think you’re a “horrible” reader, remember that reading is a learned skill in and of itself.  The more you do it, the better you get at it, and there are plenty of additional ways to improve:

• You can join a book club
• Listen to audiobooks
• Attend a reading

The trick is to start somewhere! Think of something that truly interests you and read about that.

Today, I Hoard Books

Fast forward a few decades (now living in Central Florida), and you can find all my pretties throughout my home, neatly stacked in proper order, of course, but that might just be my own personal quirk.

Plus…lie.

Some books do have a coveted spot on my precious bookshelves, but others are conspicuously grouped in this corner, or that table, or this table, and that corner, waiting to be read in their due time.

At any given moment, whatever curiosity I must quench…

I casually roam
through my home
to find a tome.

Look at that, I’m a poetress! I know, I know, “Don’t get carried away.”

But I digress…

Cozy nooks wait for me, snug corners call to me, and when the Florida weather cooperates, a rocking chair on the front porch lends itself to my list of hideaways.

And don’t get me started on the 1000+ books I have on my Kindle. Ninety percent of these stories were free, or mostly free, thanks to services such as Book Hub, Robin Reads, and Kindle Daily Deals.

Coffee, tea, wine, and cheese are preferred accompaniments, as are comfy blankets and candles; they set the mood perfectly.

Books always provide something enjoyable to do: 

• If TV gets monotonous, or I’m feeling restless, I read.
• If I have to put the world at bay, I read.
• If I’m anxious (it happens), I read.
• When I need to broaden my horizons and learn something new, I read.

I am ever the perpetual student.

Perhaps you’ll never hoard books quite the way I do, but maybe you know the feeling of being quietly claimed by stories, of carrying them until they overflow the edges of your life. What began for me as a passionate accumulation of joy has become something more—an undeniable pull, a path shaped by the leaves of a book. That, I believe, is the true spirit of the bibliophile: to let the stories lead us where they will.

If you enjoyed this post, share it with a fellow book lover — stories are always better when passed along.

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