Of all the made up holidays, National Book Lovers Day is my very favorite. Sadly, I almost missed it this year. It was yesterday but I didn’t find out till the day was nearly over.
If you are a reader, odds are good that you read for a variety of reasons. It could be for the escapism that comes from getting lost in a story. It could be for learning and enrichment or for the pure joy that comes with a truly great book.
There are as many types of readers as there are people in this world too. Some read multiple books of varying genres all at one time. Others read from a narrow catalog of one specific genre. Some prefer extremely long books. Others do audiobooks rather than traditional ones.
Personally, I read just one book at a time. I read fiction and non-fiction in various genres and covering an array of topics. I prefer books of average length and have little patience for those that are long for the sake of being long.
I once was an avid library supporter but found that purchasing the books I wanted to read was preferable to visiting my local library. Not to mention, it gives me an opportunity to support authors and that’s important to me.
I did celebrate National Book Lovers Day – mainly because I live as though every day is best used to celebrate books. I read some from Patrick Dewitt’s The Librarianist and researched a bookstore I want to visit on our next foray into Dayton. I also took a few minutes to consider books I want to read this fall including a couple of Alice Hoffman novels and one about winter in the forest that I’m holding onto until January. Not to mention, I got to hear my fella talk about a biography of Leonardo Davinci that he is reading!
There are so many incredible books out there, most of which I will never have time to read. My To Be Read pile is growing seemingly by the minute and there are books I would like to revisit soon including some classics like Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird which I revisit every few years and George Orwell’s 1984 which I haven’t read in ages.
Whether you’re a bookworm or a book dragon, I hope you remember that every day is Book Lovers Day and that there’s always room for one more book. Also remember that it isn’t hoarding if it’s books and that there are worse addictions!
If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.
Ronald Dahl
My husband and I recently volunteered at our library’s annual bookfair. It is huge! It’s a three day event. It is heartwarming to see so many people who love books.
Bookfairs and sales are the best!
There will never be enough lifetime to read all I want to read. Given how the TBR pile grows, it’s amazing people find time to reread books. I do it once in a great while. I am also working through classics. I always have several books going, usually one novel and the rest nonfiction. I can do multiple fiction if they are very different and fairly fast-paced.
My pile is close to reaching the moon. I find that I have to focus on one book at a time or else I never finish anything. Although I sometimes break my rule and will do one fiction and one non fiction. I rarely reread a book and, when I do, it’s usually because I am paralyzed by some kind of stress and need to bury myself in something familiar.
I had no idea there was even such a thing as National Book Lovers Day. I don’t do as much reading as I should (or would like to) these days, but we’re going on holidays next week and I’ve packed a book for the plane and for when we have some down time in the evening when the baby goes to sleep. I’m looking forward to it.
Reading is a magnificent form of escape. What book are you taking?
I’ll be taking the final book in the Mistborn series (by Brandon Sanderson) with me. I read the other two books during the start of the pandemic, so this is long overdue!
Very good! I hope you enjoy it!