Jane Smiley said, "Leaving any bookstore is hard, especially on a day in August, when the street outside burns and glares, and the books inside are cool and crisp to the touch."
Wow. That brings back memories. When I was a kid, I spent many a summer afternoon in the public library because it was cool and comfortable.
We didn't have bookstores in my small town. We also didn't have air conditioning at home. Spending the afternoon in the library was sheer delight. So was selecting a stack of books to check out and starting to read one of them while seated at the big oak table.
Of course, like just about everyone in Texas, we have air conditioning so I don't have to resort to hanging out at a bookstore or library. In fact, I can get any book I want downloaded to my Kindle in a matter of minutes and start reading it.
I must admit though that I miss hanging out at the library or the bookstore where I spent most of my spare bucks after I became an adult. There was something special about the smell of the books in the stacks, pulling a title from a crowded shelf, and stroking my fingertips over the words on the heavy paper used to publish books back then.
TAKEAWAY TRUTH
Of course, the joy of settling onto a comfortable chair to read about exotic places and people who were larger than life is still there. Reading is a solitary but profound pleasure. I feel sorry for those who don't read because they don't know what they're missing.
Seize the book.
No comments:
Post a Comment