I was a very happy six-year-old any time Flo (that’s my mom) dropped me off at the library so she could run errands, and I was an absolutely elated six-year-old the night she dropped me off at the library, headed to the grocery store, drove straight home, pulled the car into the garage, put the groceries away and sat down with her feet up for a while before noticing how quiet it was.
Flo found me outside the library’s locked doors, smiling, sitting next to my pile of books, flipping through pages, anticipating which new book I’d start first. I was in seventh heaven.
That’s me in the middle, flanked by my sisters Bev and Marilee – they must not have gone to the library with me that night!
I met my dear friend Colleen ten years later. We were both waitressing at Marshall Field’s, saving our money for college. She says she knew I was cool right away when she saw me hide my paperback copy of Great Expectations in a pile of folded cloth napkins so I could sneak in a page or two between customers. Goes without saying. Colleen was a bookworm, too.
I lost my sight ten years later, in 1985. No iPhones, no digital recorders, no mp3 players, no laptop computers. Unabridged books on tape were hard to come by back then, and Braille was difficult to learn. How would I survive without being able to read? The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) came to my rescue. NLS mailed books and magazines on audio cassettes directly to our house at no cost, and now their books are available online for download.
The Daily Post reports that ebook sales recently trumped those of hardcover books. “The ease of digital books can’t be beat,” the post says. “How else can you hold hundreds of books in your hand so easily?” The post went on to admit that the sensation of reading a book by machine is undeniably different than cracking open a brand new book in print, and I have to agree. I’m grateful for technology for allowing me to keep up with my fellow bookworms, but if you want to know the truth, I do still miss cozying up in the corner of the couch to read words. In print. On paper. In a good, old-fashioned…book.
I’m glad you loved your books, – that does not surprise me, – but i didn’t know you waitressed at Marshall Field’s. Where? In the Walnut Room? Perhaps you waited on my Mom and me back in the day. And brought me a Chicken Pot Pie.
Alas, we worked in a Marshall Fields in the suburbs: Oak Brook. The big restaurant there was called the *Oak* Room, get it?! Our menu was the same as the one downtown, though, and I do recall the chicken pot pie. Plus frango mint ice cream and FSS: Field’s Special Sandwiches.
PS: What are you doing up so early, Brad?!
Too bad you didn’t have EBooks back then, it would’ve been a lot easier to hide one of those in the pile of cloth napkins.
Yes, but if the hostess caught me and took my EBook away it would have been a far greater tragedy than when I got caught and she absconded with my paperback book!
OK, now history check – could it have been the times that we were sneaking in stealing sticky buns, eating off the salad bar, and making fun of the Field’s Special??? Love you old Oak room girl!!!
Or perhaps the sexy waitress uniforms and the white tie-shoes with all that crud on them? So fun to hear from you, Jenny — will email you personally to catch up.
But back to books: can you listen to books using kindl and other Ebooks?
Not sure about the Nook, but I’ve heard that the Kindle 3 has speech output to provide access for those of us with vision loss. The voice is computerized and made to sound human. For now I’m sticking with audio books read out loud to me by real people.
Lydia (age 10) has a Nook for reading but very much prefers to read real books. She is definitely the bookworm in our family, staying up late to read and reading ahead in assignments for pure enjoyment.
No *wonder* I like that kid so much! Hoping Ill be able to fit into your tight schedule during your visit next week…maybe Lydia will read out loud to me!
There’s nothing like the smell and feel of a book, you can’t help but wonder who read it before you and did they enjoy it. Btw Great Expectations is one of my most favourite books too
Dickens, The Beatles, and The Oak Room brought us together, Beth. You were reading Great Expectations and I was reading A Tale of Two Cities in between waiting tables — and we sang Beatles tunes in the kitchen while we picked up our food orders. Who knew waitressing could be so much fun (and educational!)
Ah, yes. , I’d forgotten you were reading Tale of Two Cities at the same time. No wonder you thought I was cool.