Summer Reading

You know you're a nerd when all of your things are packed in boxes in the garage and what you miss most is your books. 

When I packed up my Charlottesville apartment in March, I honestly thought I'd stay at my parents' house for a couple of weeks before moving into an apartment. Some ten weeks later, I've had to dig around in the garage for some spring/summer wardrobe items I didn't think I'd have to worry about. I have the essentials in my room, but there's a TON of stuff packed up in the garage.  And I miss it. 

I don't like thinking of myself as materialistic, but I do like my things, okay? I like organized, functional things that make me happy and I CANNNNOOTTT wait to all my things organized in my new apartment come July 1. That's right, there is a light at the end of the living at home tunnel. Not that's it's terrible. I'm ashamed (and yet totally grateful) to say that my mom does my laundry when I'm home. I don't have to pay the bills and buy the groceries or really even make meals. It's the sweet life, for sure. There are things I will miss. But it's the little things that will make all the difference. Like having access to my full jewelry collection instead of the handful of key items I have in a dish on my desk. Like hanging the framed art and photographs I've collected on my walls. Like walking past a bookshelf, lined with the titles of my favorite stories. 

I don't own all my favorites of course. That would take a Beauty and the Beast style library. So often, I borrow a book (from friend or library) or listen to an audiobook. Those are obviously not going on my shelf ... unlesss.... What if I just decorate cereal boxes with my favorite titles that I don't own so that I can still see them?

Er, just kidding, I would never do that. I'm not that crazy. You know those thoughts that for an instant seem like million dollar - or at least million pinned - idea? Yeeaahhhh ... awkward.

Anyway, yeah there are many books I've read/listened too that you can't find in my boxes. Not many are missing because I've read them digitally though. I got a Kindle Fire for one Christmas and tried it a couple times, but I just couldn't get into it. I suppose working in the yearbook business spawns a certain level of loyalty to the print medium. But it's not just that it pays the bills. It has more to do with the weight in your hand, the smell of new pages of a book, the design of a cover and the way you can use your dust jacket as a bookmark.

Two sidenotes:

1. While words like typeset, leading, dodge, burn, desktop and file have gained new digital meanings that have overtaken their physical origins, I like to think that "bookmark" is one that will always conjure a homemade or plastic-rounded-edges bookmark stuck between the pages of a coffee-stained, well loved book.

2. If you don't use your dust jacket or a bookmark to keep your place - if you are one of those terrible people who fold the corner of your book, shame on you! For real, I've done that a few times, but I will never forget this lesson from a nun in my early Catholic school days. I have very few memories from my first private school in Oregon, but to this day, I remember a nun telling us in first grade that books have feelings. That every time you turn a page too roughly and crinkle it, or fold its corners, or God forbid, tear a page, the book is hurt. I can still hear the tiny book screams I've always imagined every time I commit one of these unthinkable acts.

Anyhoooo I like books. As adorable printables on Etsy say, "In books, I have lived a thousand lives and seen a thousand worlds." And it's true. I believe in my first post, I mentioned that my parents did me a great service by encouraging creativity when I was young. Well, that service was second only to reading us from a very young age. My dad can still recite One First Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. Sometimes, when we asked for a book to be re-read for the gazillonth time, he'd read it backwards and we'd howl with laughter. I'm a firm believer that books teach imagination, creativity, curiosity and empathy in a way that screen time cannot. Sure, television, video games and tablets can be educational when used correctly, but nothing replaces a book. Plus, how will your kids entertain themselves in a post apocalyptic world? (Which of course is eminent, as you can tell from a quick flip through any TV/current movie guide.) Okay stepping off my pro-book soapbox. 

Really, today's post is just an excuse to rehash some of my favorite book memes, pine over my books that I'm so close and yet so far away from right now. (Separated by a mere flight of stairs and four cardboard walls and yet four and a half weeks until we are reunited.) And to announce (because clearly annoucenments are warranted when you have all of five subscribers including your parents) that I'm going to try to maybe possibly start sharing some book reviews and recommendations on here too. I know, strong commitment there, huh? Cool, well thanks for reading. Now close this computer and go read a book. 

Here are some books I've read recently that I'll try to share something about asap (spoiler alert: loved them all): I am Malala, The Fault in Our Stars, Gone Girl, Is Everyone hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) annnd I'm about to finish the Divergent trilogy (Divergent, Insurgent Allegiant).

Plus, I've pinned some exciting looking book lists on my Reading List board. 

Happy reading and Dabble on y'all.