Books!

I was laying in bed this morning reading when I stopped to look around my room and I realized that I have more books than I know what to do with. I seem to have them coming out of everywhere! They are laying on my windowsil, sitting on my desk, arranged in my bookshelf and then stacked on top of the rows. I love books but I wonder do I need so many? Will I ever really read them all? What about my love for wandering in book stores looking for old musty books that don't have fancy pictures on the covers? And then there is the issue of cook books of which I have several I have never even cooked out of. As I looked around I was finally led to conclude there were some I could part with and others that must stay for one reason or another. What sort of books do I have you might ask? Well there are religious books, self improvment books, text/reference books, biographies and historical books, childrens books and books containing collections of old moral building stories, books of quotes and saying, books about horses and other animals, coffee table photo books, a set of spy technique books (yes I suppose those could go but you never know when they might come in handy! I mean really who knows when the knowledge of how to write secret codes and rig things for survailence might come in handy??), there are German books and music books and the list goes on. You won't find novels or many polictical books among my collection but that's ok with me. I think growing up without a TV had a lot to do with my love of book and maybe learning to read by the time I was 4 1/2 or 5 helped a bit as well. My parents read and I was always surounded by books. Even when we lived in a trailer for all those years we still had our books and my dad built book shelves where he could. One whole wall in our living room was lined with book shelved when we moved into a house and even now I have an overflowing 7ft shelf unit in my room not to mention all the books in the living room. The written word never grows old for me and I am constantly amazed at how many ways it can be constructed to fill so many needs. I really can't imagine living in a home without books. I feel like something is missing when I go to homes where you are hard pressed to find even one or two books available for browsing. Books inspire, they challenge, they connect you with different peoples, feelings, cultures, times and ideas, both agreeable and sometimes very disagreeable. They are windows to the world as seen by other minds. I am running out of space so I think I need to be a little more selective about the amount of books I bring home and maybe that means avoiding places where I know I will be find books that are begging to come with me for a small price, but then again maybe not because if I don't at least stop and look I might miss some true gem that I really need to bring home. Oh my this is starting to sound worse than it is. Oh to have a home where I can have a library room, with a bay window seat and cozy cushions. Till then I guess I will just keep reading on my bed and trying to make order out of my overflowing book shelf. Happy reading everyone and maybe I will run into you one day at some community book sale, wandering through a book store or just browsing in the library. If I do, feel free to remind me I don't really need any more books but don't be surprised if I still leave with something I just must take home and read! Off to feed the horse and read a little before turning in. Good night.