Bibliophile – a person who has a great appreciation for or collects books.
Are you a bibliophile? I guess I could say I am since I do love books and have collected a few over the years. Have even written my share. When I think about all the words that have flowed through my fingers onto paper or a typewriter or now a computer screen, I am amazed. So many words from 26 letters.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXZ. There is some kind of reading magic in those letters, for as many words as I’ve used to write my stories, I’ve read about a zillion or two words in books others have written. I love that books are so easily accessible. I have shelves full of books and an e-reader with books I want to read waiting for me. Even better I have a library card that can get me even more books. Plus, I can go online and find any book I’ve ever heard about somewhere. All I need is a title or an author’s name. We book lovers have plenty of ways to find books to keep us happy.
But it hasn’t always been so easy to have a book in hand. From the National Book Lovers Day page, I found these facts about books if we step back in time.
- The very first books used parchment or vellum (calf-skin) for the book pages.
- The book covers were made of wood and often covered with leather.
- Clasps or straps kept the books closed.
- Public libraries appeared in the Middle Ages.
- Public libraries often chained the books to a shelf or a desk to prevent theft.
Libraries still have trouble with books sometimes walking out of a library never to return, but I’ve never seen one chained to a shelf. Well, other than a dictionary now and again.
You can find books to borrow for no cost at libraries, but sometimes it’s fun to own a bookcase or several bookcases of books with the spines smiling out at you with memories of the story you’ve already read or with a beckoning anticipation for the story you want to read.
When I was researching for These Healing Hills and An Appalachian Summer, my stories set in the Eastern Kentucky Appalachian Mountains, I visited Wendover, Mary Breckinridge’s home and the headquarters of the Frontier Nursing Service. Touring her home and finding this reading areas made it easy to see that Mrs. Breckinridge loved books too. This looks like a place where she and her assistants and nurses might have enjoyed a evening of reading. Then she even wrote her own autobiography, Wide Neighborhoods, to tell her story and use the proceeds from the sale of the book to support her work with the midwifery service she founded in Leslie County, Kentucky.
Sharing more about Mary Breckinridge and how she was able to make her vision of bringing better healthcare to mothers and children in an area where such care had been practically nonexistent was the the reason I wanted to go back to the mountains for another story with Frontier Nursing history as the background. And so I let Piper come to the mountains as a volunteer courier for a summer of adventure in An Appalachian Summer. While my character Piper was a product of my imagination, many other young women like her did go to the mountains to assist the nurse midwives for a few weeks or months. For many of them it was a life changing experience as it was for Piper in my story.
Reviews have been rolling in for An Appalachian Summer. The book went on a blogging tour as many new books do. Readers are gifted with books with the hope the readers will like the books and give the stories favorable reviews although that is not required. Hoped for but the reviewers give their honest review. I’m happy when a reader/reviewer does like my stories and says something like what Vickie said in her review. “You’ll laugh, smile a little, cry a little, and rejoice that God is there. Just a wonderful read. A book that will be cherished forever on my bookshelf.”
Even more fun about that review was this info Vickie shared about her background. “I just fell in love with this book. Descriptions of the land and people were just perfect. How do I know? I married a man that came from right in the heart of this book. I even had my last child at Mary Breckenridge Hospital and saw a midwife there.” That really had me smiling.
And then there was this review from Babbling Becky. “*Sigh* After reading An Appalachian Summer, I wonder how a reader could not consider signing up to be a horse courier for Mrs. Breckenridge’s Nurse-Midwife Service.”
Becky also picked out some quotes from the story that were fun to see in her review.
“…the joy of the song can be in you whether it tickles the ears or not.”
“Sometimes a person had to forget the obstacles and jump into the moment.”
“I think we all have a calling. Sometimes we live up to it, and sometimes we don’t.”
“…every person should be allowed one idiotic dream in her lifetime.”
“You get up high on those hills and the Lord just seems nearer.”
The first time a reader did that, I wondered where the quotes came from and then I realized the reader had lifted them out of my story. With Becky’s, I think I even know who said what. LOL. I should, shouldn’t I?
This seemed a fun way to celebrate National Book Lover Day. Well, the best way might be to actually sit down and read a book. On a beach perhaps. Or in the front porch swing if I had a front porch swing. Or just in my easy chair with the dogs sleeping beside me.
So are you a book lover? And what would be your dream way of celebrating National Book Lover Day?
Comments 14
I love to read. I try to keep a good book on hand all the time. I get most of my books at the library, and I pick Christian fiction. I have my name on my list at the library to get an Appalachian summer. I’m really looking forward to reading that.
Author
I’m always happy to hear that a library has my books, Marlene. I’m glad you will be reading An Appalachian Summer soon. I do hope you will enjoy reading about Piper’s summer when your name rises to the top of the waiting list.
I too like having a book going, but sometimes when I’m working on finishing writing one of my books, I have to not read fiction for a while or at least something that is much different from what I’m writing. So, in order to write my books, I have to give up some fiction reading time.
Hello Ann, I’m a voracious reader. Yesterday I celebrated National Book Lover’s Day by reading Wyatt by Susan May Warren. To-date I’ve read 136 books of my goal of 210 according to Goodreads.
Author
Wow! I’m impressed, Caryl. I think you will meet your goal with 136 already counted. I love that word voracious. You just know what it means by how it sounds and you do sound like a voracious reader who knows how to celebrate a National Book Lover’s Day.
I LOVE books! Last Thursday and Saturday I was able to go to a used-book sale. One of books I found was about Mary Breckinridge, so of course I snatched it up! 😀
Author
That’s fun, Elizabeth. I hope you’ll enjoy reading more about Mary Breckinridge. She was an impressive strong-willed woman. I like browsing bookstores too, but I really shouldn’t buy more books when I have such a towering TBR pile. But I’m always tempted by more books. 🙂
I love to read books. I would love to have a day to have nothing else to do but read all I wanted to, undisturbed.
Author
I know what you mean, Connie. I think sometimes I’d like to have a stay at home vacation and do nothing but read all week. I could eat peanut butter sandwiches and make hot tea and be happy.
Thank you Ann, I do love books, it started when I was a child and don’t remember ever being encouraged to read, I just loved stepping into the story as if I were there. When I began to have children of my own I joined the weekly reader book club for them, and ordered books for them all the time, although I really couldn’t afford it, I paid them off in payments, that was in the 60’s and 70’s. They are grown now and still have some of those books. Like ‘Good Night Moon” and “Stone Soup”..and many more. I believe they like to read now, and one daughter is a book worm like her mama! Electronics are ok, but will never take the place of a book you can touch and handle, turn the pages and put on your book shelf.
Author
I so agree about e-books never replacing a paper book you can hold and turn pages, Phyllis. Sweet that you sacrificed to give your children books to read and I’m sure that did make a difference in how they became readers. All my children like to read and some of my grandchildren. One granddaughter can polish off a book in a day or two and often reads them over if she doesn’t have a new one to read. They are library patrons which helps in keeping the book costs down. Plus, I loan her books if I can talk her into liking the ones I have. She’s a fantasy book lover so I don’t always have books she’ll read. One of my other granddaughters used to read the Christian fiction books I’ve collected. She loved them. And they do read their Grammy’s books too.
To celebrate I’m on my way to the library to pick up more books to read!
Author
Best way ever to celebrate, Betty.
Reading is my favorite way to celebrate Book Lovers’ Day! I loved your book–An Appalachian Summer! Currently I’m reading Debbie Macomber’s new book–A Walk Along the Beach–and am enjoying it. I’m on my 53rd book read this calendar year and have many more in my TBR pile. Thank you for the excellent books that you have written!
Author
53 books! So far this year! You’re definitely a book lover, Suzanne. I’m glad you liked my mountain story, An Appalachian Summer. I’m always glad to land in a TBR pile of a true book lover. And reading is definitely a best way to celebrate a National Book Lover Day.