Love Affair With....

At a very young age I began collecting old books.

When I was 19 living in CA. a library closed and the books were offered to the school where I was teaching. The material did not meet the expectations of staff and so the dumspter was filled.

I was horrified. I gathered what I could and my choices were based on, 

Title, Cover, Color, nothing great.

I couldn't stand years of books thrown away.

I have carried my loves with each move of our household and added to the boxes with time.

I love the uneven cut of pages and their smell. I love the texture of the fabric on the covers and the color with touches of gold.

To me they are priceless and then I wonder who they belonged to who and who read them....

If they weren't a text book I wonder who wrote them and why? I like this quote from Geroge Orwell:

Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist or understand.

They make me smile....my love affair with old books.