Book it

For several years the Carnegie Library has been doing the “One Book, One Community” project. Basically, a good book that should prompt discussion is selected and the community is encouraged to read the book and invited to attend a variety of discussion groups to converse about it.

This year’s selection is PEOPLE OF THE BOOK by Geraldine Brooks.

Early on, the book has me thinking about what a wonder are books and that one can learn a lot about a person based on what they read.

I come from a family of readers. My mother often shared how rare and valuable it was for her to have a book of her own as a child and that she cherished those books and would read them over and over. My Aunt Florence was a librarian who gave her children, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews a new book each Christmas. I still have those great “Disney Classic” and Dr. Seuss books that she gave me. They are treasures.

It’s amazing what a book that has been read and enjoyed can tell you. I’ve been looking through some of the books my mother had and it’s warming to read the inscriptions written by the persons who gave her the book and why they chose that particular book for her.

Pick-up a book that has that worn and read look to it and one can detect passages that had meaning for the reader by looking for that turned-over corner of the page. A close observation may reveal if the person read the book while drinking a cup of coffee. One may even be able to detect background information on the reader based on what pieces of paper or receipts are tucked into the pages.

One of my college English professors encouraged his students to write in their books. (It took my Mom awhile to view this as a good thing). “Mark ‘em up,” he would say, “show me you’re reading the book and are finding something worthwhile, something that made you think!” Ever since then, I’ve been a writer in books. I have a series of symbols and markings, underlined passages, and notes and reflections written in the margins. Persons who have borrowed a book from me say they read two things: the book itself and what it meant to me.

To this day, when we get together as a family usually early on in the conversation someone will ask, “So, what are you reading now?” .... Well?

sj;