I’m a bookaholic. I love to read books, shop for books and collect books. I love the feel of a book, the smell of a book, and the weight of a book. I’m a full-fledged addict and I’m not seeking a cure…ever!
Luckily I grew up in a household where books littered the floors, bedside tables and crammed homemade bookshelves crafted by my dad. My mom loved mysteries, my dad books on the civil war.
We were library regulars, and my mom subscribed to the Book of the Month Club, and Readers Digest Condensed Books. Gifts of books were a regular part of my childhood. I loved Golden Books, fairy tales, Dr. Seuss and Dare Wright’s Lonely Doll series. When I started reading instead of just being read to, I loved Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins. In high school my pleasure reading turned to non-fiction and biography. My taste ran the gamut from English and U.S. History to movie star tell-alls and Presidential bios. I loved it all!
During my teens I started a collection of “smelly” books. My collection isn’t really smelly, okay maybe a bit aromatic, but it is filled with old and captivating books that have caught my attention and landed on my bookshelves. I’m not sure which family member coined the term “smelly book”, but it’s stuck and my small repository will forever be known by that name.
So, just like when I was a child, my home is crammed full of books in every room, and on every surface. Spilling out of overstuffed bookshelves, cascading off the nightstand on to the floor and cluttering up the kitchen table. It’s heavenly!
When my daughters’ were little I started volunteering in their school’s library, and eventually took a job in my local public library. Cocooned in that environment surrounded by books and like-minded co-workers, and a coffee shop (coffee another obsession!) was my dream come true!
Working in the Technical Services department as a cataloger, gave me a first peek at all the new books, and I literally took my work home with me as I checked out stacks of books on a weekly basis. Pure bliss!
When I retired a few years ago I was looking for something to fill the void of my previously bookish life. I still read a lot, visited bookshops, and libraries, but I needed something more. That something more turned out to be indieBRAG. I was searching around on Goodreads one day and found the group, went to the website, applied to be a reader and have happily been a member of the indieBRAG community ever since!
IndieBRAG has introduced me to a whole new world of amazing and talented authors. I feel privileged to be able to read and recommend so many of these books I’ve been given to view.
Thanks to the internet, self-publishing has given bookworms like me more wonderful stories to savor, and indieBRAG is showing us the way one award at a time.
Happy Holidays to all my fellow bibliophiles, may all your bookish delights come true now and all year long!
Tracy
Leave a Reply