Hello

                Wiggly Reader

                Long rule in books, oh worm

                Fast flip, loose page; what a bother

                Bookworm

There is no significant memory linked to the time I wrote this poem (circa age 20), but I feel it is a good portal for my book-hoarding confession.  I own 830 books, not including children’s picture books I use at work.  I don’t know the number because I just spent weeks packing my magnificent collection into boxes for a move.  I know because I have a spreadsheet documenting every book I own.  I also have a spreadsheet documenting every book I ever wrote down wistfully as one I would like to own but didn’t feel I ought to buy at the time.  This list currently has 1182 titles on it, so you can appreciate how much I restrain myself.  Unlike some book lovers, libraries don’t fulfill my greed.  No, I must hoard my own private library (yes, it is alphabetized), and boast of more books among my treasures than I have yet had time to read.  I think I’ve been this way ever since book orders came home in my backpack after school.

Despite how much easier digital books would be to haul around, I have never taken to that method for pleasure reading.  I love real, old-fashioned books that feel as substantial in my hands as they do in my mind.  I am always reading two at a time: one as a transit and breaks-at-work book (lives in my backpack) and one for those rare nights I turn in early enough to read in bed.  Tonight is not one of those nights.  I have been packing, cleaning and unpacking since Saturday, and on top of that my husband and I just got our .5 child: a puppy!

I had to pack my book boxes half-and-half with lighter things, so it will be a while before I unpack my collection to its entire extent.  Meanwhile, some titles to give you a peek at my world of books…

Currently Reading

Transit/Breaks Book: Firesong by William Nicholson

Bedside Book: Escape to Venus by Stanley Makepeace Lott (my grandfather!)

3 Random Titles from My Collection

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble by Shirley Lueth

Just Wait Till You Have Children of Your Own! by Erma Bombeck and Bil Keane

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl

3 Random Titles from My Wish List

The Warlock in Spite of Himself by Christopher Stasheff

The Guardian of Isis by Monica Hughes

Sundiver by David Brin