BOOK NERD ALERT
It’s book week in Queensland, and the culmination today at the children’s school was a dress up parade. Come as your favourite character. I was seriously tempted to join in, because I does love me a good bit o’ fiction.
It was a close thing, but I didn’t know if Annie Wilkes from Misery (remember the sledge hammer?) was appropriate for the Prep to Year 5 demographic.
And that got me thinking about all things bookish.
So here goes, confession time: I’m a book nerd.
The proof is as follows:
- I have four bookcases of grown up books, that are overflowing, and stacked in all directions.
- I write my name and the date in all my books.
- They are put away alphabetically.
- I do not borrow books, nor do I lend them.
- I still have my first ever “proper” book, Fox in Socks. It’s from my second birthday, I know this because my Mum has written 1973 inside the front cover (!)
- I have one bookcase full of children’s books. These books do not belong to my children.
- Once upon a time, a particularly shithouse boyfriend threatened to burn all my books, and I thought I might die.
- Sometimes I just sit and hang out with my books… Okay, that’s probably enough right there.
Over the years, I’ve read a few books, but more interestingly, I think they’ve read me. I like to underline passages, and when I go back and peep at my scratchings, it’s like I’m gazing back, at the me of back then. Remembering what moved me and grooved me. What I thought was clever, or funny, or the perfect sentence. I’m always in search of the perfect sentence.
It’s fun to go back and try and imagine being in love with Edward from Twilight all over again, or to go further back and see myself distraught and blubbering over The Bridges of Madison County. Not my finest moments. But there’s so much more.
Pissing myself at Nick Earls, (any book, they’re all hilarious). Freaking out at Pennywise from ‘It’. Finding a voice speaking to me from the pages of ‘Catcher in the Rye’. Getting lost in Middle Earth on a quest for the One Ring. Deciding to defend my virginity at all costs after reading ‘Forever’.
And then further back again, to simpler times in the Enchanted Wood, or hanging out with The Famous Five.
I don’t know when my book addiction first began, but I do know that it was nurtured and grown by my wonderful father, Peter. But that’s a story for another day. Maybe tomorrow. Pop in, I think I might tell you a story about an amazing bloke…
What books do you love?
Do you lend your books out?
I too share your love books and I kept a fair few in the UK until I moved to Aus and had to leave them. It was then I realised that I still kept the memories just but then I never was an underliner. From child hood memories of Enid blyton, Ronald Dahl to all Judi blumes lol to John Grisham ,Aldous huxley’s ‘a brave new world’, Iain banks ‘a wasp factory’ and Khaled Houseni’s ‘a thousand splendid suns’. Nothing has touched me as much as ‘what is the what’ by Dave Eggers. I cried for a day I swear. I do lend but more often I pass it on and ask others to simply pass it on when finished or give it to charity shops in the hope that others will read what I have and be touched too. The only thing that saddens me is the cost of books in Australia compared with the UK and that probably explains the demise of so many book shops. Despite the kindles and e-books I also can’t help but still love a good old fashioned paperback!
Thanks for the list of new books to read Chrissy…
It’s so good that you can be that person who shares the love around. I’m not a hoarder of many things, but I can’t part with the books. I picked up a book one day at a bus stop that had the words “Read and pass it on” inside the cover. I found that difficult and it wasn’t even mine to begin with.
I feel the same way about books. I’m not organised though, so my books are scattered all over the house and in no order whatsoever. When we move house, my plan is to install some lovely built-in bookcases, but I suspect there will still be more out than in.
Well there’s always some that have to be out…
What do you mean ‘imagine being in love with Edward all over again’? Some of us never left….
Ha, yes… I guess I’m a bit fickle.
oh yes you do loan books….
Only ‘work’ books that I’m prepared to lose.. Unless you are VERY trusted. Are you challenging my nerd status?