From the comments from my Stephen King no e-book post and Digital vs. Print books post, many people made me think about what I love about books. Someone mentioned the memories that books become a part of and the connections we make with them, and I decided to trace my love with them. It’s a lifelong affair, and I’m not ready to give it up.
I can’t remember a time when my bedroom didn’t have a bookshelf. From Dr. Suess to Mother Goose, I had all kinds of books that progressed in size as I got older. My earliest memories of books was sitting on my bed at night with my mom reading to my older brother and me from C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, or Madeline L’Engle. The first words I fell in love with included magic beyond my ordinary life, and when I would step outside my door, I would try and recreate that magic as I played.
My first beloved book that was all mine was a children’s book about being a chosen child. As an adopted child, this book helped me learn that my family was my very own because they chose me. As I got older, the books got thicker and more complicated. The first book series I ever actively bought with my money was L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. I’m thrilled to find out that Sourcebooks has bought the rights to sell the series again. According to Publisher’s Weekly, “the house will launch its program in February 2014 with the release of paperback and e-book editions of the six novels in the Anne of Green Gables series”. So a new generation can fall in love with Anne’s world.
When in elementary school, there was a book catalog that would come out and be distributed by the teachers. We could take it home and have our parents help us order new books. Then the books would be delivered to the school and doled out in class. There was nothing better than getting my little bag of books. I also remember being so excited when we would take class time to go to the school library to pick out books. I remember the school librarian introducing me to The Black Cauldron series.
Some of my first experiences of love and crushes were through books. Judy Blume was a must for any girl’s bookshelf, but I also destroyed my paperback versions of L’Engle’s Austin Family Chronicles. Back then, there was no Young Adult category, but when Vicky fell in love with bad boy Zachary, I couldn’t help but take notice.
My love for sci-fi and fantasy was reinforced by my older brother’s love for the genres. Beyond being the person to introduce me to Star Trek and Doctor Who (the Tom Baker years), it was his copy of The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks that got me hooked on high fantasy. Every year, we tried to re-read the Lord of the Rings trilogy together, but that got harder once he was out of the house. Needless to say, those paperbacks were well worn out by the time I left the house.
Whether you are a loyalist to print books or a new convert to digital ones, it’s a good exercise to try and trace your love for books.
In high school, I got exposed to more and more of the classics. The first time I had the thought that I wanted to be a writer was after reading Edgar Allan Poe’s work. I could have been biased because of the family myth of being related to Poe. But beyond the possible family connection, his use of words floored me. I remember using his word “phantasmagorical” for a senior paper. Yeah, it’s no wonder I ended up an English major and English teacher passing on my love for the written word and the books students could hold in their hands.
So now, I call myself a hybrid reader since I discovered the convenience of my e-reader and being able to carry so many books in one device. Looking at my bookshelves, I realized that I have my books segregated into groups. Upstairs, I have my graduate studies books all together in their own bookshelf. On another shelf, I’ve got my childhood books up to the books I consider more fun reads, like Under the Tuscan Sun and Julie and Julia. Downstairs on display, I’ve got my collection of graphic novels all neatly lined up. I’ve got my American collection on a different bookshelf than my British collection. Shakespeare and Tolkien both have their own shelves. My young adult collection sits behind my desk. My fantasy shelf has a couple of displayed signed copies of Neil Gaiman books.
The one thing I can tell from assessing the books from my life is that I have a lot. Getting rid of books and letting them go is hurtful. And my husband reminded me that I have about four more boxes of paperbacks in our attic from my teaching days. Clearly, books are an important part of who I am. There are some I can pick up and just enjoy reading, and there are some that when I open them they transport me not only into the world within them but also into the time when I first read them.
So how can I reconcile the side of me that loves my books to the point of holding onto them with fierce loyalty and the side that packs only her e-reader? It usually comes down to what experience I’m going for. If all I want to focus on is the reading of the material, e-books provide an immediate gratification to reading where I can be a glutton in reading a series or carry around what would take up all my suitcase space if they weren’t digitized.
At the same time, I read about the destruction of bookstores and libraries, and my heart breaks. I hold onto the hope that Doctor Who is right about the libraries in the future, and that they’re full of stacks and stacks of books and not just held in one technological device.
Whether you are a loyalist to print books or a new convert to digital ones, it’s a good exercise to try and trace your love for books. What you might find is that they are more a part of you than you thought. For me, I dream of the day when I have my very own library room where someone can kill Professor Plum with the candlestick. I’ll know I’ve “arrived” when I need a ladder to reach my books.
Falls Into Writing 
I love the feel, the smell, of books….and above all the thought of an uncracked spine. I have yet to fully convert to e books for that reason, and I dream of my own books published in softcover, not downloaded…..I share your dream of needing a ladder to reach the books.
And right there is my bifurcation. I want my books both downloaded AND bought in paperback. Is that too much? Yes, I want my books on shelves. But I also want my book to be in everyone’s digital library as well. It’s nice to want, right?
Aaah, this was such an awesome post. Makes me want to go back and trace my history with books. And you might be related to Poe, how cool is that!
Well, there’s no proof that we’re related except one of the women who married into the family was a Poe. And on my mom’s side of the family is Herman Melville. No wonder I grew up wanting to write, although I don’t have the same affection for Melville that I do for Poe.
There is no mitigating progress with sentimentalism, this I understand, and I have romanced the life value of the physical book as it relates to me at length, but at the core of every writers hopes is the immortality of there words.
The digital medium is what the future, and in many ways much benefit will come from it. What I enjoyed about this post, is the reverence for the books that have been your past, regardless of what form in the future they take.
And really, that grew from reading comments from my two posts. They made me think about my experiences. And then I tried remembering the books that stood out to me over time. It was a special post for me!
Well for that I am grateful, in whatever ways my ramblings contributed to a furtherance of such a wonderful set of notions on the importance books.
Love it! Looking back, I also had tons of books as a child. All the Golden books, and my favorite – “The Worst Witch” by Jill Murphy. I think the only time I didn’t read for myself was in the awkward middle school years, then I picked it up again in High School and never stopped.
It’s a great experience to look back. And now, with technology, that amount of books we can read is so immense, no one will ever be able to read all the books!
Totally. What I love now is how many teens are reading. Sure Twilight might have started it, but it got them curious, and I love that.
When I was teaching, I was bowled over by Twilight because everyone wanted to read it – boys and girls. So I got into it and started some teaching plans off of it based on each of the books’ novel origins (Romeo & Juliet, Wuthering Heights, etc…). I’ll support anything that gets students reading.
What a great post! Anne of Green Gables was one of the first additions to my bookshelf too. It was also one of the books that bricked over my dorm-room window when I had no room for a bookshelf and had to resort to stacking.
Your post made me take a moment to think about how I treasure books – is it the books themselves or the stories within them? Could I be transported just as easily from a Kindle? I think the answer is both, and yes. But there is something magical to me about holding a book in my hands and remembering every time I’ve read it, a kind of physical memory I haven’t experienced with a Kindle yet.
I had to pause and think about the same thing. There’s something about holding the book, turning the page, and feeling the weight of them in your hands or on your chest as you read. At the same time, the stories themselves are the most important thing. And with digital books, I can read those stories anywhere I go.
Wow, so glad to have found your freshly pressed blog! I, too, spent my childhood in the public library–I’d always carry home more books than I could read (and I still do). While I do most of my work now the computer, I still love and prefer the feel of a book. You know it’s good when it’s nice and hefty! You mentioned all my favorites. I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was in middle school and was ecstatic when they came out on film. I, too, was a science teacher (just finished my first year of graduate school), and I agree that teaching under NCLB is not teaching at all (at least, not in a good way). Look forward to reading more of your blog. 🙂
Thanks so much! It’s funny, now I don’t want the hefty books because I’d rather use my e-reader rather than holding a monster. But you’re right, I used to love going to get the books from the library and bringing them home.
Don’t even get me started about why I choose to no longer teach. If I can’t adjust the teaching materials and schedule to meet my students’ needs, then I can’t teach. Instead, eventually I’ll get my YA books out that they can read in school (although not my current WIP).