Friday, June 15, 2007

It's Beth Stewart, Not Martha Stewart


Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.

Henry Ward Beecher

The above is a picture of some of the books in our living room. A very tiny sample of what’s available in our home.

I would have shown you a picture of the famous pile on my bedside table (and on the floor beside it) but then you might think I’m a bit of a slob. I am a slob when it comes to certain things – but that doesn’t mean I wish to advertise that fact on my blog.

My kids have grown up in a home where books are proudly on display. In fact, books are part of my decorating scheme. (Such as it is.)

Our family is so book crazy that my boys (boys!) actually appreciated getting lovely pine book cases as Christmas and/or birthday presents.

My eldest, after visiting a home where not one book was visible, told me that his dream is to have a home full of books. Sigh. What a wonderful feeling that gave me.

Just so you don’t think we hoard books, we do give many books away. We want others to share the pleasure of reading. It’s just very difficult to part with old favourites…or the ones you’re certain family or friends will want to read…or the ones that were special gifts…or ones that hold special memories….

Yeah, we hoard.

13 comments:

Mike Minzes said...

Reading is the doorway to success. Books are the gatekeeper.

I love books.

Attila the Mom said...

What a fabulous post!

I have zillions and zillions myself. Cleaning out the basement put me back in contact with some dear favorite friends. :-)

Beth said...

mike:
And how lucky we are to know that - and to have such a love of books.

attila:
Bet a few of those zillions are from your childhood!

Princess Pointful said...

I've been utterly devouring books since I've had a little more time in the summer semester. My life feels lot fuller because of it!

megan said...

Keeping books cannot be considered 'hoarding'. And I daresay WE KNOW ABOUT hoarding. Great pic, but what didja do with the People mags?!?!

Kelly said...

I am a big hoarder. As a matter of fact we are going to be buying more shelves this weekend.

Beth said...

princess pointful:
Of course your life is fuller!
Enjoy it while you can.

megan:
Are you referring to those rag mags you left here? (Hah!)

myutopia:
Hoarding's good...but may I recommend an occasional clear out? Take it from me - one day you might regret your home resembling a used book store!

oreneta said...

So with you, stored in the depths of my basement awaiting our return and their revival are close to 3000 books....one of the big disadvantages of the life we lead is that we are short of books, chronically, and desperately short of choice around books. Read what you can get.

Beth said...

oreneta:
On the plus side, when you're forced to read whatever you can get, you expand your horizons. Right?
I've never counted how many we have. 3000 sounds like a lot - but I bet we're up there. Yikes.

Princess of the Universe said...

I graduated almost 9 years ago from University, but I still revel in the fact that I can read for fun again!
It has taken so long to get over the guilt of reading something that isn't a schoolbook!
A home without books isn't a home IMHO.

Beth said...

princess of the universe:
May you never lose that joy!
And this home would be pretty empty looking without our precious "hoard."

Angel said...

Books, books, books! I love books! But it is very hard to get my boys to read...the oldest will only read Harry Potter or the Left Behind series...middle boy-only is it's about sharks, and the youngest likes to read just about anything!

Reading ...if you can't/don't read...then how will you survive?

Beth said...

beth:
I don't think it matters what they read as long as they do read. As they get older, their taste usually expands.

As for survival? If I didn't have my books, I don't know what I'd do...