Sunday, April 08, 2012

Books beget books

When I was a kid, I LOVED owning books, and the best weekends were when my parents took me to the bookstore and let me leave with towering piles of books, the best Christmases when I got boxes of new books. But once I started to move around a lot, book ownership became fraught and I swung in the other direction. Any book I bought was either absolutely required or a slim volume of poetry, to make the subsequent moves a little easier. Now, I'm swinging back, because it is impossible to teach, or write a book, without other books! That's what I tell myself to justify each new book purchase (and I almost always buy used ones, unless I am buying the books that include my work), but I am not looking forward to the next big move.

During one of my online research jaunts for the hanji book, I read an hilarious story connected to the tiny book pictured above. The book itself is a hoot, though it gives children no clue as to how paper is actually made or what it's made of. Plus, it's tiny and light. If only my whole library could be so portable!

1 comment:

Velma Bolyard said...

as i contemplate downsizing, the books that must go is the hardest list to make, let alone accomplish. thinking about this is hard work.