The Daily Procrastinator

There is a used bookstore near my home, within walking distance. Today, while walking past it, I decided to backtrack and go in. Note that “walked” is the important word in this story.

Just outside the front door was a library cart full of books, the kind that looks like it’s on its way to a reshelving project. And on that cart was the most magical sign: $1 hardcover, $0.50 paperback.

Eleven books later, I had a stack that was a foot and a half tall, and I hadn’t even walked through the door. I had Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Atwood, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ernest Hemingway. I even found two book club selections, The Bookseller of Kabul and A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. The price: $9.33 including tax. I was giddy. This sort of thing is a bookworm’s dream come true.

Now, how was I going to get them home?

Fortunately for me, the owner was there and offered to let me stash the books in her bottom desk drawer until I returned with the car. Now they stand on my “To Read” shelf, beckoning me every time I pass. I’m only 30 pages from completing my current read, Swimming to Antarctica (a bargain books 2-for-1 steal from Borders), and then I have to make the tough decision about which book I should read next.

I read.  I’m not just talking about magazines or the daily paper.  I’m talking about books.  Fiction, nonfiction… it doesn’t matter, as long as there are words.  I love the feel of a book in my hand, the musty smell of libraries, the wonderful tactile experience of reading.  My dream vacations usually involve ample time to read.

While buying clearance-rack books at Borders ($3.99, buy one get one free!), I told the bookstore guy that I’ll read anything.  ”God, that’s sexy,” he replied, then blushed a deep shade of crimson and refused to make eye contact with me for the remainder of the transaction.

Sexy or not, it’s nonetheless true.  Looking at our overflowing bookshelves, there are clearly My Books and His Books, things that we’ve purchased for our own reading enjoyment.  The difference is that I will read all of the books, while he sticks to his nonfiction-only repertoire.

This means that in addition to my book club selections like The Time Traveler’s Wife, I’ve also read Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Rigged, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman”.  Not to mention my hardcover edition of Anna Karenina, purchased as a souvenir to remind me of my days studying Russian literature in college.  It’s an eclectic collection, to be sure, but that’s what makes it interesting.

I am always looking for suggestions, so feel free to comment and offer up your favorites to add to my nightstand.

“Before there was America, there was the Darby Free Library.”

Less than four miles from my childhood home, you will find the Darby Free Library — until the end of the year, anyway.  The oldest continuously operating library in America is facing its demise without outside donations.  

While I’m sure that they hope that someone will write one giant check to cover their expenses, we shouldn’t underestimate the power of a lot of little checks.  So if you would, please, send $5 to the following address:

The Darby Free Library
1001 Main Street
P.O. Box 164
Darby, PA 19023

The Library is a non-profit Pennsylvania Corporation and qualifies as a 501 C-3 Federal tax-deductible organization.  Its story has been profiled in the local media, as well as Boing Boing, The Huffington Post and UPI.

Do it for the history.  Do it for the kids to have a safe place for homework.  Do it so 10,000 local residents will have a place to go for free computer and internet access.  I don’t care what your reason is.  Just do it.