Bibliophiles, Ahoy!

Just a short post today about how much I love books.  (As if you can't tell...)

People read every day, whether they want to or not.  Email, social media, street signs - they all require the skill of reading.  Suffice to say, reading is a part of life.  There are those who read because they HAVE to; then there are those wonderful, enlightened, intelligent, open-minded, brilliant pillars of humanity who read because they WANT to.  There is nothing "wrong" with being the former - except not being the latter.  (I say this in jest.  Or do I?)

One of the things I will always be the most grateful to my mother for is setting a reading example for me.  I can remember back when I was a child, my mother always had books around.  We had bookcases in nearly every room of the house, and crammed on the shelves were a magical rainbow of covers with titles that ranged from The Bible to Harlequin romances to Sherlock Holmes mysteries.  (Looking back, I can safely say this is probably why I have such eclectic taste in reading.)  My mother had a particular love for Louis L'Amour, and he is still the stick by which I measure all westerns (and let me tell you, no one else stacks up).  The first "grown-up" book I can remember reading all the way through was L'Amour's Passin' Through.  I was maybe ten years old.  I remember the cover had a wild-looking cowboy astride an even wilder-looking blue roan horse.  I was so proud of myself when I finished that book; I felt like I had entered a secret club for people who loved stories.  And it's a club to which I still gladly pay my dues.

Books are my kryptonite.  If you were to ask my husband what my biggest weakness is, he wouldn't even have to think about it.  "She spends all her money on books.  And she doesn't even read them all," he'd say, shaking his head.  It's true.  I want them ALL.  Every one of them.  Even the terrible ones.  (OK, maybe not the terrible terrible ones, like Fifty Shades, but I will admit to owning the Twilight series...)  I have been known to keep books that are absolutely rubbish just because I like the cover, and they look pretty on my shelves.

That is, however, not to say that I don't have some sort of discernment when it comes to books and reading.  I like to think that my broad range of tastes and interests give me an advantage when it comes to reading, because I am willing to read a lot of different types of books.  I can enjoy a romance just as much as I can a literary classic; I can enjoy a YA paranormal just as much as I can a mystery.  There are very few types of books that I turn my nose up at (I'm sorry, but I will never NEVER be able to make it through an Amish inspirational - I don't care how much cash you offer me), and I can find things to appreciate in most any book I read, even if it turns out to be a dud.  This is because, in general, I <3 books.  And I appreciate the work - the time, the thought, the dedication - that went into its creation.

As a writer, I have an extra appreciation for books; I know how difficult it can be to produce one.  Each finished piece is a representation of millions and millions of hours of work.  (Don't roll your eyes.  It's the truth.)  So for something to come together in such a way - the author believes in an idea enough to make a story out of it, the agent believes in it enough to represent it, the editor believes in it enough to buy it, the publisher believes in it enough to produce it, the reader believes enough in it to buy it - is an amazing feat.

So, props to you authors out there who keep writing great stories that I want to read with gorgeous covers I want to decorate my shelves with.