love affair

i must confess that i have a love affair going on. it's been a major part of my life for almost 50 years. it is my love of BOOKS!!! i love everything about books . . . reading them, picking them out at the library, smelling the printer's ink in a brand new book, collecting them, loaning them, recommending them, just everything. as a child i always had a book in hand. i read on the bus, in the back seat of my parents car, in our treehouse; pretty much anywhere my bottom landed, i was reading a book. i would have read at the dinner table if my mom had allowed it. for me, there is nothing like losing myself in a good book. i like the adventure of going new places and exploring situations i would never have the chance to explore in my real life. a book is a good friend, a solace in troubled times, a diversion from stress, a way to learn and the best conversation started i've ever known. many times when meeting someone new i think "oh, good, she reads" as an omen of what may be a lifelong friendship.
my daughter asked me once how many books i've read in my life and i'm stumped to even make a guess. as a child i could easily read a couple dozen library books in a week. for a while in the 90's, i kept journals of my "read books". i would enter the title, author, # of pages and the date i finished the book. one new year's day i announced to my family that i had read 70 some books and over 22,000 pages during the previous year. without a moment's hesitation my sister-in-law holly said i needed to get a life. it got a big laugh but i was sad that she didn't have the same passion and felt like she was the one missing out (sorry, holly!).
this photo is of my book shelf in my art room. there is a constant ebb and flow of books on it as i buy books, borrow books, loan books and get them back again. a few of them never leave the shelf as they are too precious for me to part with for even a little bit. like a long-time love, they are held close to the heart and cherished. i'd be sad and lost without them. so my love affair continues . . . and i refuse to apologize for this treasured guilty pleasure!!