Today was not my best day ever. I had very little sleep, the computers crashed at work, a student cussed at me (I snapped back), and to top it all off, I had a rather crappy date this evening.
So, to cheer myself up, I went to Barnes and Noble and touched all the books. There is little in life that brings me more pleasure than going to a humungous bookstore and touching all the books.
As a kid, I didn't get to see much in the way of books. This was, of course, before Barnes and Noble came to our town. B Dalton ruled the roost, and it was small. Used book stores in my neck of the woods were full of trashy romance novels. I gobbled books, but mostly they were Christian books from my grandma's library. Occasionally, my mom would bring me some fantasy novel, which I'm sure my dad would have been furious about had he known. It was rare that I had unlimited amounts of time to browse a vast space filled with books that I could choose without someone asking me why.
Therefore, when I go to the bookstore by myself, I am usually full of wonder. I look around, and I see entire worlds--so many worlds that I will never be able to see inside them all. I love going to the HarMar Barnes and Noble because they have a gigantic used books section and a nice bargain book selection. I visit the Pratchett section. I visit the cookbooks. I visit the sci fi used books section (tonight I almost bought Box Office Poison [graphic novel] and two books in the Earthsea Cycle. I say almost because I never buy I anything when I go to Barnes and Noble to touch the books). I visit the poetry. I visit the journals. I visit the young adult fiction section. I wander through the MN history section and the guides to wildlife and plants in MN. I touch as many books as possible.
Tonight, I opened all the bargain books on astronomy and looked at stars and planets, something that always leaves me awestruck. I helped a lady find bargain book journals. I looked at people with my big eyes, and I'm sure they thought I was crazy. I looked in a lot of bargain art books, including one about how to draw cartoons. I looked at a book about horses with full-page pictures. I touched all the Pratchett novels.
I don't know what it is about touching the books that fills me with joy and lends me comfort. Maybe it's that somewhere in all these stories is a story that is a little like mine. Maybe it's that all stories are a little like mine. Maybe I hope that someday a story I have written will live among them. I have no idea.
Posted by LoWriter at November 13, 2006 10:50 PMThis article makes me want to wander through a bookstore for a few hours. There isn't anything better than chilling at a bookstore, enjoying the company of books. Amazing eloquence though, I immensly enjoyed the read.
I am sorry your date was a bummer!
Posted by: 10lees at November 14, 2006 10:39 AMThanks, 10. And it was not the end of the world as far as the date went.
Posted by: Lo at November 14, 2006 04:59 PMHi Lo,
I, too, am sorry to hear about the date. But I want to know details, too. Perhaps next time we see each other...
I have also found the bookstore therapeutic. Whenever life used to weigh on me too much or I felt really sad, I'd spend an hour or so in the kids' section reading all kinds of picture books. I'm not exactly sure why it helped, either. Maybe because I saw great books with good morals and since they were kids' books--aimed at kids who have not yet made mistakes, it gave me hope.
I enjoyed reading your post. It's so nicely written.
J
Posted by: at November 18, 2006 08:40 PM