A bookstore is pretty much like any other store except that it that happens to be filled with books...and if you're lucky, a Starbuck's will be conveniently inside. Coffee and books. Wow. Like dying and going straight to heaven. I confess. I love bookstores; I love books. I can't seem to get enough of them, actually.
For me, entering a bookstore and smelling that special scent, (you know, that unique inky smell of freshly printed words between beautifully bound covers) is similar to attending church. Indeed, it's an uplifting, powerful, religious experience. There are few places on this planet where I feel like I belong as I do in a bookstore or library. No wonder, because words are my passion. They have their own little minds and temperaments and sometimes take over my life, (but I'll save that for another article).
There's something terribly exciting about being surrounded by all that knowledge, all those words . If there's any place I always get lost in time and space, it's at a bookstore. After a couple of hours of browsing, I am faced with the task of which book(s) to purchase before the store closes and/or my husband propels me, frowning, toward the door. (Luckily, he understands my obsession.)
There's a method to my bookstore madness. I generally browse the new releases and inevitably end up in the computer/web design/graphics or entrepreneur section. Sometimes books seem to jump out at me as if to say, "Read me! I can help you!" This is how I found Dan Miller's, "48 Days to The Work You Love" about a year ago, when I was going through a personal and career crisis. I had a difficult decision to make and this book helped me make the transition to take a severance and leave my job so I could pursue my writing career. It didn't happen right away, this path to writing enlightenment, but I don't regret leaving my job. As far as the writing career, bear with me and we'll see where I end up!
The library has much the same effect on me as the bookstore, only with an older inky smell, minus the freshly brewed Starbuck's. I can easily spend an afternoon browsing through the library's shelves, sometimes with no specific purpose in mind other than to seek knowledge. Learn something I hadn't known before and open the doors in my mind just that little bit more.
The library's desk clerks roll their eyes when they see me coming and get their scanners ready, because I seldom walk out with less than 5-10 books in my arms, smiling like the proverbial cat that got the canary. While I seldom read each book cover to cover, I glean something valuable from each one of them. And much like a kid in a candy store (or my husband at his favorite specialty tool shop)...I want them all. Obsessed. No other word for it.
For me, books provide so much pleasure and so much information, I can't help but share what I learn. And when I want a great escape or pure entertainment, I turn to books. Nothing to me is as exciting as beginning a new book, uncharted territory into a writer's mind. Discovering new characters, getting to know them and share their grief and joy as well as the sadness of finally saying goodbye when I regretfully close the last page and sigh. But it doesn't last long as I delve into yet another book. The endless supply of books is both daunting and terribly exciting!
It is my dream, my pursuit in life, to become an author so that I may inspire others like the authors who have inspired me throughout the years. It's not an easy road, but for me it's the only road worth traveling. My biggest problem is I need to read to write and I need to write to get my own book done! Dilemma! And don't even get me started on all the other hobbies I have. Again, more article ideas...keep checking back as I'll eventually write on pretty much everything listed in this index before you can submit. Yup. I am ready to put that knowledge to good use and learn something about myself in the process.
To summarize, there's something magical that transpires between author and reader. Nothing else compares because there is nothing else as powerful as transferring one's thoughts into the mind of someone who's willing to accept them. And that author/reader magic is immediately felt by people like me, who are obsessed with books and bookstores.
I hope my own words, be them in cyberspace or between the inky, powerful pages of book, live on long after I'm gone. It's a legacy I look forward to.
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