April , 2019
Dear Everyone:
I love books. Always have.
When I got my first book in elementary school, I would sit in the
kitchen and read out loud to Mother while she prepared dinner.
Decades later, she confessed that she had always detested Dick
and Jane, and their little dog, too.
I still have the “Rainbow Classics” edition of
Heidi, a gift on my ninth birthday from our maternal grandparents.
Growing up, the public library was one of my favorite places.
A wonderland filled with a treasure trove of books.
And there were book stores, where you could actually buy a book
and hold it in your hand.
I still have some of the books that I bought while still in High School.
Many of those are Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels.
When Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship
Troopers was turned into a move in 1997, I decided to reread it.
I discovered two things.
1) When I opened the
book, it literally fell apart.
A paperback book is held together with glue.
In the intervening years, the glue had evaporated.
2) One of the film’s
main characters, “Dizzy” Flores, played by Dina Meyer, was actually male
in the book and died in the first chapter.
Over time I have purchased hundreds of books.
All of the Dorothy L. Sayers’ “Lord
Peter Wimsey” novels.
All of Elizabeth Peters’ “Amelia
Peabody” ones. All of
the books by John Wyndham, Daphne Du Maurier, Mary Stewart, Tom Clancy,
and of course, Robert A. Heinlein.
All of the Anne McCaffrey “Dragonriders
of Pern” books, but not the many of the ones her son, Todd
McCaffrey, wrote after Anne died.
There are limits.
Over time, I moved up from paperbacks to hardcover books, especially if
I didn’t want to wait a year for the paperback to come out.
Lots and lots of books.
My second bedroom, in addition to being The Really Big Closet, is also
The Library. I have four
bookcases that have always been in a constant state of overflowing.
Then, about a dozen years ago, the eReader was introduced to the world.
The first one I got was about as heavy as a traditional
paperback, but also played Angry
Birds, among other things.
It lasted for a few years.
But then, one day, in the middle of a favorite novel, it conked
out.
At least I could continue the novel in the traditional paperback mode.
Which is when I realized that I had gotten quite used to being
able to adjust the font size to suit me.
Either that, or the print in the paperback had somehow shrunk
over the years.
So I got a Kindle because, in the meantime, “Jeannie” had received one
for her birthday from “Alice”, and I discovered how much smaller and
lighter it was. And still
able to adjust the font size.
In time, I upgraded to a Paperwhite, which lights up from behind and
makes it much easier to read in the dark.
In fact, last autumn, we were visiting “Alice”.
The bedroom that I was using had only two lights, both installed
in the ceiling, with light switches to control them.
Unfortunately, neither light switch was reachable from the bed.
No problem. I simply
turned on the Paperwhite, turned the light switch off, and used the
Paperwhite as a flashlight to safely get into bed.
Recently, I was looking at all the books that I have and realized that
someone was going to have to deal with them in time.
Even when I had the physical book, it was easier to read the
Paperwhite. No need to keep
all those books.
I discovered that the Senior Center, where I go every week to crochet,
has a small library where anyone can just pick up a book, take it home,
and return it whenever they are finished with it.
I started bringing books in with me on Tuesday.
The Lord Peter Wimsey novels
now have a shelf almost all their own.
Ditto Amelia Peabody.
Tom Clancy has to share space with others.
I have successfully cleared off several shelves in my Library.
Naturally, I immediately filled the available space with crochet
and sewing projects. It’s
all a Work In Progress.
Some books I will continue to keep, either because the Senior Center, or
the County Library, won’t want them, or because I’m not ready to part
with them yet.
Heidi will stay
with me forever, of course.
Love, as always,
Pete
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