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2024

Abstract

It took me ten minutes to get to the next sentence in the book.You may ask: Why didn’t you drop in at the library more often to borrow or return just one or two books at a time? The answer would be that life — and, yes, procrastination — got in the way.<h2 id="cf3f">@Half Price…</h2>Eight years ago, shortly after the $25 fine, I was visiting my daughter in Austin. She was late picking me up after my appointment at a hair salon. So, with time to kill, I wandered into the Half Price bookstore three doors down from the salon.I had no intention of buying anything. Books were expensive. And why would I buy something I could borrow for a fraction of the cost?I browsed the Clearance section anyway — and came up with Kafka’s Metamorphosis. The price sticker read:$ 1.00. Once I recovered my breath, I began excavating furiously. I unearthed five more treasures to be had at a dollar apiece.Forty-five minutes later, I walked out with eleven books. I had paid a total of $19. That was the start of my book collection and the end of paying library fines.Back in Houston, I located a Budget Books less than ten miles from home. Soon afterward, I discovered the Friends of the Library bookshelf, where my county library displayed books they wanted to off-load. These were each priced between$ 1.00 and $5.00.Here are five of the$ 1.00 books I picked up at the library and discount book stores: Saving Fish from Drowning — Amy Tan The God of Small Things — Arundhati Roy Me Talk Pretty One Day — David Sedaris The Heart of a Woman — Maya Angelou The Constant Gardener- John le Carre I even turned up a J.D. Salinger ( Franny and Zooey) and a Louis Amour (The Quick and the Dead) at $0.50 each.<h2 id="05cb">Smelling the roses…</h2>Six years ago, hubby built a bookcase — for my birthday, he said. I believe he grew tired of tripping o

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ver the books heaped on the floor of our walk-in closet.My personal library — now housed in the bookcase — stands in the corner of our bedroom. It’s a haphazardly arranged, mixed-genre collection of books. It’s also over a hundred gifts that I get to unwrap at leisure. One gift every two weeks, or three. Or whenever.Before I begin one book, I choose the next one and place it on my dresser. Currently, I’m reading Ruskin Bond’s Rain in the Mountains. It’s a whimsical, tender account of the author’s life in Mussoorie, a town set in the slopes of the Himalayan foothills.(Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx waits on the dresser.)I now have the luxury of strolling through a book, and pausing frequently to smell the roses. When Ruskin Bond writes about the “sweet, ascending trill of the Himalayan whistling-thrush,” I amble over to YouTube to listen to the thrush’s song. Reading has become a richer, more immersive experience.<h2 id="fff5">The Give-Away crate…</h2>Once I finish a book, it goes into one of two piles: Keep or Give-away.Books such as Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart or Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray go back into the bookcase. I may re-read them a few years hence — perhaps with fresh insight or a shift in perspective.Roughly one out of four books goes into the blue Give-Away crate that sits next to the bookcase. Twice a year, I gather up the contents of the crate and drive down to the library.<h2 id="53f0">The siren call…</h2>I drop off the books in the library’s donation bin. And then, hearkening the siren call, I head off to the Friends bookshelf. Inevitably, I find six or seven must-reads, which I then must pick up.I exit the library $15 to$ 20 lighter in the pocket but feeling toasty and triumphant all at once. I just gave to my county library. And I didn’t even pay a fine.</article></body>

My No-Fines Book Collection

Or what happened when I grew tired of paying Library Fines.

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” (Jorge Luis Borges)

The first time I paid a $14 library fine, I felt a toasty glow — I’m giving to my county library. The next time I racked up $17, I shrugged it off — It’s still cheaper than buying books. But, finally, when I coughed up $25, I told myself: a) You’re already giving to the library with whopping property taxes. (You’re welcome, Texas.) b) The way this is going, it’ll be cheaper buying books.

But here’s why I forked over those double-digit fines. Every time I stopped by the library, I picked up five, sometimes six, books. I planned to keep the books for the allotted three weeks and renew them twice over — three weeks each time.

Nine weeks to finish six books. I have friends who can do that and more. I aspire to that club but don’t belong to it.

Off-roading…

I’m a slow reader. In part, it’s because my eyes start to itch when I read continuously for over half an hour. But the chief reason is that I constantly off-road when reading.

I finished Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa last week. In the book, she talks about a Maasai warrior’s lion mane headdress. I looked up images of the headdress on Google. And then I clicked a link on the webpage that promised more detail about the Maasai tribe. And then —

It took me ten minutes to get to the next sentence in the book.

You may ask: Why didn’t you drop in at the library more often to borrow or return just one or two books at a time? The answer would be that life — and, yes, procrastination — got in the way.

@Half Price…

Eight years ago, shortly after the $25 fine, I was visiting my daughter in Austin. She was late picking me up after my appointment at a hair salon. So, with time to kill, I wandered into the Half Price bookstore three doors down from the salon.

I had no intention of buying anything. Books were expensive. And why would I buy something I could borrow for a fraction of the cost?

I browsed the Clearance section anyway — and came up with Kafka’s Metamorphosis. The price sticker read: $1.00. Once I recovered my breath, I began excavating furiously. I unearthed five more treasures to be had at a dollar apiece.

Forty-five minutes later, I walked out with eleven books. I had paid a total of $19. That was the start of my book collection and the end of paying library fines.

Back in Houston, I located a Budget Books less than ten miles from home. Soon afterward, I discovered the Friends of the Library bookshelf, where my county library displayed books they wanted to off-load. These were each priced between $1.00 and $5.00.

Here are five of the $1.00 books I picked up at the library and discount book stores: Saving Fish from Drowning — Amy Tan The God of Small Things — Arundhati Roy Me Talk Pretty One Day — David Sedaris The Heart of a Woman — Maya Angelou The Constant Gardener- John le Carre I even turned up a J.D. Salinger ( Franny and Zooey) and a Louis Amour (The Quick and the Dead) at $0.50 each.

Smelling the roses…

Six years ago, hubby built a bookcase — for my birthday, he said. I believe he grew tired of tripping over the books heaped on the floor of our walk-in closet.

My personal library — now housed in the bookcase — stands in the corner of our bedroom. It’s a haphazardly arranged, mixed-genre collection of books. It’s also over a hundred gifts that I get to unwrap at leisure. One gift every two weeks, or three. Or whenever.

Before I begin one book, I choose the next one and place it on my dresser. Currently, I’m reading Ruskin Bond’s Rain in the Mountains. It’s a whimsical, tender account of the author’s life in Mussoorie, a town set in the slopes of the Himalayan foothills.

(Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx waits on the dresser.)

I now have the luxury of strolling through a book, and pausing frequently to smell the roses. When Ruskin Bond writes about the “sweet, ascending trill of the Himalayan whistling-thrush,” I amble over to YouTube to listen to the thrush’s song. Reading has become a richer, more immersive experience.

The Give-Away crate…

Once I finish a book, it goes into one of two piles: Keep or Give-away.

Books such as Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart or Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray go back into the bookcase. I may re-read them a few years hence — perhaps with fresh insight or a shift in perspective.

Roughly one out of four books goes into the blue Give-Away crate that sits next to the bookcase. Twice a year, I gather up the contents of the crate and drive down to the library.

The siren call…

I drop off the books in the library’s donation bin. And then, hearkening the siren call, I head off to the Friends bookshelf. Inevitably, I find six or seven must-reads, which I then must pick up.

I exit the library $15 to $20 lighter in the pocket but feeling toasty and triumphant all at once. I just gave to my county library. And I didn’t even pay a fine.