Books, Books, Books

My house has lots of bookcases and books. Once I tried to count the number of books I own and gave up because the count would have taken hours to finish.

I have one big bookcase full of books written by authors I've met, usually at writers conferences.

I only keep books I intend to read again, but sometimes years go by before I reread one.

Where do all those books come from?

Some were gifts, including the ones I got for Christmases and birthdays as a kid. Others I bought at local bookstores, online, or directly from the people who wrote them. At times I've traded books with author friends and our area has a monthly free book swap where we donate books we don't want to keep, and take home as many as we want that other people have donated.

Of course I go to the local library every week and bring home five or six books to read. I usually check out Middle Grade books because I can finish one of those in an hour or so.

And, yes, I spend at least an hour a day reading, if not more.

In case you can't tell by now, I'm a bookaholic and have no intention of getting into recovery. I even had a bumper sticker made for my car that says, "Bookaholics Unite."

Books give me pleasure and teach me all sorts of things. One reason I became a writer is to give back some of the wonderful things books written by other people have given me.