I am a book addict. I try to control it, but I just can't sometimes, especially around classics, old books, books by certain authors, books about philosophy, books of quotes, books with beautiful covers, books with catchy titles, or books about Texas. Oh, also history books - fiction or nonfiction. And biographies.
I guess I should narrow it down to what I CAN resist - paperbacks. Unless they are old Tarzan books or science fiction classics. Or any of the above.
So when I ran into Goodwill this weekend to drop off a couple of bags of spring-cleaning-culled clutter, Kinky Friedman's Guide to Texas Etiquette called to me from its seductive perch on the top of the shelves. I knew it would be mine at first sight: how could I resist that flashy cover with the circa 40's cowboy kissing his girl (I love circa '40's cowboy stuff.) And look at that title: Guide to Texas Etiquette or How to Get to Heaven or Hell Without Going Through Dallas-Fort Worth (the last part written in rope letters!) Heck, I would have bought it just because the word "Texas" is in the title, but the whole package set my heart to racing.
The strange thing about this addiction is that if I had spotted this book in, say, Barnes and Noble, it would have attracted me, yes, but I could have easily walked away. The $22.95 pricetag would have been like a splash of cold water on my passion.
It's when books get to places like Goodwill or my local library's book sale room that I succumb. I think it's the combination of cheap, cheap prices and my desire to rescue things. Books that no one wants end up in dumpsters. (I know this from my year as an elementary school librarian. All of the books I had to weed out from the shelves due to age or damage came home with me - I just can't put books in dumpsters.)
Unfortunately, I haven't yet even opened my Texas Etiquette book, nor the ten other books I couldnt live without that I found in Goodwill that day. They are sitting on a makeshift shelf in my "library" (Tom has promised to build bookshelves, but in the meantime, most of my books are in boxes stacked downstairs.) I want to read them - I love to read - I LOVE to read - but right now I can only spare a few minutes a day for reading - usually just snatches while I'm eating or waiting in a doctor's office. If it's just my kids and me eating dinner, it's a quiet meal - we all have a book open, devouring two things at once. But Tom, the husband, doesn't like us to read at the table (he's not a reader like us and just doesn't understand.)
A friend gave me Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck back in April, and I started it right when I my last class finished up in mid-May. I love it, and I'm almost through with it now, but it's been almost a month and the book is only half an inch thick! I confess I'm also reading a biography of Thomas Merton, but that's just for a few minutes in the morning while I'm eating breakfast. I've been whittling on it for about a year now. And there are a couple of magazines I try to keep up with.
But I love books inside and out. It makes me feel good having them around. So I'll continue to rescue strays and maybe, just maybe, one day I'll actually read them all.
