I asked AA Milne and Winnie the Pooh to introduce this week’s topic and they kindly agreed, in exchange for just a little lick of honey, which I fortunately had on hand.
“Handsome bell-rope, isn’t it?” said Owl.
Pooh nodded.
“It reminds me of something,” he said, “but I can’t
think what. Where did you get it?”
“I just came across it in the Forest. It was hanging
over a bush, and I thought at first somebody lived there, so I
rang it, and nothing happened, and then I rang it again very
loudly, and it came off in my hand, and as nobody seemed to
want it, I took it home, and”
“Owl,” said Pooh solemnly, “you made a mistake.
Somebody did want it.”
“Who?”
“Eeyore. My dear friend Eeyore. He was — he was fond
of it.”
“Fond of it?”
“Attached to it,” said Winnie-the-Pooh sadly.
So with these words he unhooked it, and carried it back
to Eeyore; and when Christopher Robin had nailed it on its
right place again, Eeyore frisked about the forest, waving his
tail so happily that Winnie-the-Pooh came over all funny, and
had to hurry home for a little snack of something to sustain
him.
As I do not have a removable tail that can function as a bell pull, the question remains to be answered: What things am I most attached to?
I have a definite fondness for my antiques. There are the dressers I was lucky enough to inherit from my grandma. My old baby grand piano. And the rather ugly china dogs, also once belonging to the grandma who owned the cool dressers. I would experience some sadness if I was forced to part with these things.
But my most beloved possessions are definitely my books. The Dr. Seuss volumes that survived my childhood. Books that I read aloud to my kids. My antique volumes of Dickens and Tennyson and Louisa Mae Alcott. Old and new, hard cover and paperback, literary or genre, it matters not. Any book I have read and loved, I cherish.
Yes, this means that I have a current shelf problem and the books are double stacked and overflowing. But I have a devious plan which involves turning the entire kids’ loft into a library just as soon as they are all out of the nest.
Over the years I’ve moved multiple times. Not like military family moving, mind you, but enough times to know the weight and significance of a box of books. On one of those early moves – the one where we moved from Edmonton to Chicago with only those belongings we could pack into our Honda CRX – I gave some books away. That was years ago before my college-age son was born, and I still miss some of those volumes with physical sense of loss. I remember the feel of a particular book in my hands, the cover, the smell. For many of them I even remember where and how I came by the book, maybe even what happened the day I first began to read it.
I know we live in an electronic age. I have a Kindle. I read books on it. But given the choice, I always prefer a physical volume that can go on the shelf when the read is over, a visual reminder of the journey I traveled through its pages.
And now, speaking of books and things to which we are attached, I have become quite attached to my sisters here at the Debutante Ball and I am so excited about this book, which is launching in Britain this week:
If you live in the US or Canada, I’m afraid you’ll probably have to wait a few months to get your hands on the North American version, “The Girls’ Guide to Love and Supper Clubs.” Which, by the way, is available for pre-order now at all of the usual places.
I adore my family heirlooms as well, and have a special place for the books written by friends. So I’m right there with you, Kerry. xo Here’s to a rocket of a UK launch for Deb Dana!! Who knew her book would have an accent?
Amy, I bet all of our books have accents! Inevitable, and part of what we call voice, I suspect. 🙂
Aw, thank you so much, Kerry! And I hear you on the weight and significance of moving books. When the movers came to our apartment in DC last spring, they looked at a few of my boxes and shrugged, as if to say, “No big deal.” Then they went to lift said boxes and let out a collective grunt. “Books,” one of them said. “I freaking hate books.” Too bad I love them!
LOL. My “movers” have almost always been the family. Fortunately, most of them are also readers. They complain, but they understand.
Awww. Now you’ve made me long to drag the Winnie the Pooh books out of the basement.
I get so attached to my books that I can’t even get rid of the ones I didn’t especially enjoy. (This is probably some sort of sickness.) But this is where my Kindle has come in very handy. If I’m not sure I’ll love a book, I read it on my Kindle first. If it turns out I do love it, I buy the hard copy. Otherwise, I can just save it forever in electronic format, without taking up precious storage space in my basement.
What a great reason for me to put a Kindle on my Wish List! I love books and I couldn’t see buying one in case I fell in love with a new book I’d want to snuggle up with again – or at least FIVE new ones in 2013! Problem solved, LindaG! PS to all Debs: I’m so looking forward to your books’ debuts.
Thanks Robyn!! And we are SO glad to give you a reason (or five). 🙂
Linda, I’ve done some of that, but not on purpose! I buy on Kindle sometimes because I’m several hours from the nearest bookstore. So – it’s either order, or wait until I drive into Spokane for something, or Kindle it. There have been a couple I had to buy after reading though, because they were must haves for the shelf!
I love my books!! After my father died, I inherited six floor-to-ceiling oak bookcases he’d made. I brought them home – and promptly filled them ALL immediately (with books I already owned). My husband’s comment was “well, I thought THAT would take longer…” And yet, I can’t bear to part with any. And I have a bag of books on the floor waiting for shelf space…
It’s not an illness, right? It’s normal?
Absolutely, completely normal. ~shifty eyes~
Aw, Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore, how cute. I would hate to part with my books as well. Even though I have ereaders (a Nook and a Kindle — both gifted to me), I really prefer buying real books. There’s just something special about being able to actually turn the pages yourself. Also, it’s nice not having to worry about a battery dying when I’m in the middle of a chapter.
JQ – also, reading on airplanes! You don’t have to turn your book off during take off and landing!