Booklove

A // W // F

Here’s the thing about me:  I love books.  

And also, I love people.  

I guess that’s why I love used books so much.

I love books that are worn by many fingers; paper creased and rainspotted and written on.  Feathers and leaves tucked between pages.  Startlingly personal inscriptions, penned into the flyleaf in watery lavender ink.  

And few things provide a more intimate glimpse into the mind of a reader than page after page of their thoughts and emotions scribbled into the margins:  a breadcrumb trail left by the psyche, as revealing sometimes as a dream.

  
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I’m lucky.

Turns out I’m married to a guy who loves used books, too, and together we’ve filled the house with them.  

And so it shouldn’t surprise you to know that one of the highlights of our week in Florida was a visit to a special used bookstore.

While I was there, I decided to take some photographs.  I thought of all the little surfaces that make up a space like this, where someone can feel comfortable sitting down on the floor in the middle of an aisle, her long hair brushing the pages of some tome some other girl has read before.   I wanted to take photos of the textures of the space — photos that felt personal and intimate in the same way that a book feels personal an intimate when it’s full of marginalia.  

I’m not sure I entirely succeeded, but I like the results.

Book lovers, enjoy:

  

 

    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

37 Comments

  11. The photos turned ou great! The last one is a bit confusing though 😉 It’s like it was taken by looking up, but it doesn’t seem to make sense – I’m intrigued!

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    1. Ha! I was wondering if anyone would notice it and ask.

      In the store, there’s a giant bridge made of old, worn-out books stacked and fastened together. It’s enormous, and very strange, but I like it. 🙂

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  12. Have a lover of books in the family. My daughter, Tara, has quite a collection. She says, which I agree with, nothing can surpass the turning of a page and reading a book under the covers with a flashlight.

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  14. Uh I love books, too. And used books as weel. The new novel I am writing is inspired by a librarian that met at a blogger meeting! He showed me ancient books in his library… Petrarca’s book dating back to 1590 among others. I really do appreciate your beautifull work here, both photos and text! Have fun

    Ps I am having my first novel translated! As soon as it is finished I will send it to you ☺

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  15. There’s this quote that says that when a normal person dies only he dies but when a reader dies he dies from many perspectives !

    And you are absolutely right about the books that when it is worn out and pages are kinda dusty and the pages are creased and wrinkled. I love to read those books so I refer from libraries. And definitely the classic ones are the best.

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  16. Lovely. I write that in my study/library. 🙂 My cozy place. I probably have 3000 books. And since we will moving into a new house soon, I’m already thinking about where I will (re)build my library. (I don’r want to think about packing the books) 😉

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    1. Oh my goodness, I completely understand. They weigh a ton, don’t they?

      We have a library too, and it truly is the coziest place in the house. Even people who aren’t readers tend to gravitate there.

      Something about books just feels friendly, I guess. 🙂

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      1. Yes. You are right. I had not thought about that. I remember almost everything about each book, where I bought it, what I was doing when reading it. But I hadn’t thought that books could be friendly to others. (I always examine books in someone’s library) 🙂

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