Books - Part 1
I love books. I always have one (or two or three) on the go. I borrow them on my Kobo, I purchase new, I scour used book sales, I check out those free libraries at the end of people’s driveways.
I especially like to buy art books. This was my last purchase.
And these are the tiny paintings I did last week at the cottage after reading the book. (Note the paintbrush for scale.)
Here is just a sampling of my some of my art books.
And some more art books.
And even more art books. These ones are in my studio.
I was gifted some great botanical books from a Deep River painter. They are very inspiring.
I decorate with books. I think a wall covered in books is a beautiful sight. This is my wall of books in our snug/tv room/kitchen. Piles of books shelved this way and that. Art books, recipe books, bridge books, fictional books, old books and new books.
Somewhere along the way I started collecting Jane Eyre books. My favourite to read is the one with the binding coming off — it almost sighs when I open it. It is a second edition copy and was printed way back in 1881. The print is so small, but the tiny letters are full of big feelings. Because the print is so small the book demands closeness. When I read it, I imagine the people who have held this in their hands over time: pausing to read about moors and mysteries. This is a book with personality.
Books piled in our living room. Three of these are from the latest used book sale at the library and the top one is from our new bookstore in town. (More about our new bookstore in my next blog post.)
John isn’t much of a reader but he does have some books piled on the top shelf in our spare room. He likes true crime books, especially the ones where the husband almost gets away with murder…but never does. Should I be concerned? Maybe he will get to them when he is recovering from his knee surgery next week or maybe they will disappear suddenly while he is “out of it”.
I have some children’s books in our spare room as well. I did get rid of piles of children’s books after we retired from the ECE profession but some I just couldn’t part with. I love the artwork of Marie-Louise Gay and the intricacy of Graeme Base. Maurice Sendak and John Burningham also are wonderful.
I also have a collection of ABC books.
This is one of the strangest ABC books in my collection. It starts out like a lot of ABC books but by letter C - The carrion crow, it gets a bit dark.
Here is a sample of some of the pages.
I never did read this book to my toddlers or preschoolers. I just liked having it.
L - The omnivorous swarming locus. P - A primordial protozoa. What great use of words.
How many ABC books have a“cadaver-haunted vulture” for the letter V?
What is your favourite children’s book?
I have so much more to say about books so stay tuned for my next post.
