Unashamed Bibliophile

The collection that began all collecting. The very first thing I can remember collecting was books, (well maybe stuffed animals too,) and I have never stopped.

I still have most of the books I collected as a young reader. The picture books that were shared with my siblings (like Dr. Seuss,) are probably long gone, ruined in basement floods or by pens and markers. Which is really to bad because there was a book called But No Elephants by Jerry Smath that solidified my love for those amazing gentle giants.

The first series I remember really being addicted to, the one that had me begging my parents to take me to the bookstore was the Sweet Valley Twins. I already loved reading by this point but I just read the books my parents found for me and they had done a great job, but this was the first time I craved trips to the book store to find something new to read.

Many of my really close friends were also avid readers and I remember we shared our favorite books and series with each other. Books by Caroline B. Cooney and R.L. Stine, but also Philip Pullman's Ruby in the Smoke. There was also this Christian fantasy series that I started reading and loved, but have since completely forgotten the titles of. I have a hazy recollection that the third book had the word "tower" in the title. I would be over the moon if I could find this series again.

In sixth grade I had a teacher who would read stories to us every day at lunch. She opened up a whole new world of books for me. Some of my favorites from that year were Brian Jacques' Redwall, Wilson Rawls' Where the Red Fern Grows and Roald Dahl's Witches.

There are many other book's from my childhood and adolescence that have remained in my collection. The books by Scott O'Dell, The Black Stallion, Choose your own adventures, Several different Nancy Drew series, The Dancing Cats of Applesap, Julie of the Wolves, Judy Blume and Beverly Clearly books, The Outsiders, Doll House Murders, The Cricket in Time Square, L.M. Montgomery series especially the Emily books and many, many others.

My love for books has only grown over time and with the help of a charming used book store in Seattle-"Twice Sold Tales, " my collection exploded. Today I am quite sure that I have at least 1,000 books in my home. Not all of them are mine my husband is also a book lover and he added a hefty amount to the pile. I am not even going to try to add in the number that belong to our children who have definitely inherited our Bibliophile ways.

Rest assured I do not keep every book I read and I still love checking books out from the library. In fact I use it most often to check out audio books to listen to while working on my sewing projects. I have listened to so many Agatha Christie and Janet Evanovich books this way. There are also a number of books that I have enjoyed (or not) that I do not feel the need to keep in my collection. Tomorrow I will share with you my favorite source for finding and passing along books.

I can quite happily say that my book collecting days are far from over. I am also looking forward to the day our kids start diving into the collection that my husband and I have created.

Many blessings to you this fine night.--Kate