Saturday, June 14, 2008

Free books!

I am a hippy. It's official... Not only have I been using a bicycle as my primary means of transportation, but I took said bike to the library where I checked out books. How did I forget about this? There is an institution that gives away my favorite things for free, every day! (Except thursdays.) Now, I know I don't get to keep them, but it is still a much better method than I had been using, which was to go to a bookstore, usually independent or used, and spend a pile of money on a stack of books that I don't know if I will even like. These books typically come to rest on the shelf, never to be cracked. If I do happen to crack them and don't like them they end up back on the shelf for eternity. So, at the moment my life is full of books I don't like, need or want. I have slowly been going through and selling or chucking the most obvious candidates, while, with others, I hold desperately to the hope that I will want to read them. Yes, it's true, I am a book whore. Now, with my new found love, I can check out books and read them and if I feel they really truly belong in my life, or I have the insatiable urge to highlight, underline, or otherwise deface them, only then will I go and buy myself a copy. I know that we should all support writers and I'll be damned if I ever write a book and tell people to check it out of the library, but hey, these are tough times man. Time to reduce, reuse and recycle, right?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Clementine!
First of all,I hope you're ok..^^
Omg,I've also been using a bicycle since a week,and here where I live(south of Italy) is simply amazing just riding your bike while the sun and the warm wind caress your skin.. Ok,I'll stop myself..:p Is it so obvious that it's a thing I love to do?:p
Same thing about the books and library.. There's something fascinating in those old books and in the pages that smell of time,experiences and memories.. I also like to think about the people who had those books before me.. What were the thoughts that crossed their minds while they were reading them? Were they similar to mine?
It can also be a "therapeutic ritual".. When I go in the library,it's also because I need time alone with myself,because I need silence for a while,or because I just wanna "disappear" in other stories and let my thoughts disappear as well..
I wish you the best!
Bye!^^

Anonymous said...

Hi Clementine !
I am a bookworm too.
A library is a very comfortable place for me but I have no time to go recently.

You should write a book someday !
Have a nice weekend.

The Amatuer Writer said...

Really Hard Times, man. So tough that most of the time I'd go without meals, just water for the sake of survival..Seriously!..
How ironic it was my old bicycle I was planning to use got stolen just a week before the gas price sored to a totally insane rate. Do not know if it is a 'sign' from HIM that I should not cycle or something..
Nowadays, everytime I need to fill gas in my car?..I'm literally crying!! :(
Yeah, it's totally a great way to read and recycle, but sadly even The National Library in my tiny country is pathetic! :(
Being said, I'd think it'll be a nice idea if you'd recommend us your "choice books/authors/writers" on a weekly basis, start a 'book-club' or something; Oprah-style.
Anything! To keep my mind off these tough times..
Oh yeah, I'm totally 'for' the great suggestion that you should definitely write your own book, DB.

As usual; Keep Staying Well, Strong and Cool, dear DB.

xoxo ;)

obscureobjects said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
obscureobjects said...

hhaaha ah i love your term book whore...i happen to be a music whore.

actually im somewhat of a book whore too. with that being said im that person who always has late book notices because i check out books and cant bring myself to return the ones i really love..i had a pablo neruda book for like 6 months. but you should definitely stop by any flea markets, thrift stores or yard sales to get books. They usually have them for like 50 cents and a lot of times you'll find the most random unexpected awesome books (in my case i found 9 classics and they only cost like $3 altogether)