Looks like we all feel the same about our books. I'm sorry for your
loss, Don. We also have a bookcase in every room of the house like
Lynda does (except the bathroom--hey, there's an idea!) and we are at
the library so often that we may as well get a job or volunteer. In our
house we say 'books are treasures' and we do believe that is true. My
fondest memories of time spent with my boys (thus far) is when we read
aloud the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder and
the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. We have only given away books
twice in our married life. When we left Chicago with a rented pull-
behind UHaul in 1990 and our eldest son (almost 15) was an infant, we
sold 3 large boxes of books (mostly college texts) to help finance our
move. We regret selling many of those books. The second give-away was
just a year ago, we pared down and gave 12 cartons of books to a used
bookstore in our small town. We don't miss those and have added back a
couple of cartons worth since then--can't have an empty space on a
bookshelf.
A good book is, indeed, a friend. It informs, it entertains, it keeps
you company when you long for some and it's quiet when you don't. If
books could finish your sentences for you when you're grasping for a
word or make dinner, but then I suppose we wouldn't need each other.
Lisa
Re: [Homestead] Fine book by Richard Dawkins, University of Oxford biologist
, (continued)