Aging Capriciously

Fat books, short books, tall books, skinny books, long books, digital books, small books, large books, I like books.  Fantasy books, romance books, sci-fi books, mystery books, drama books, classical books, comic books, history books, text books, science books, I like books.  Books are my best friends.  Books are my comfort on a rainy day.  Books are my faithful companions in my journey through life.  Books keep me company when I am feeling down.

Between the Lions: Song – “Read a Book Today”  (Please Listen)

Books talk to me, teach me, persuade me, lecture me, admonish me, remind me, educate me, humble me, exhort me, persuade me, inspire me, uplift me and entreat me.  Books are my solace, my cheer, my consolation, my relief, my respite, my succor and my happiness.  I would give everything I have ever earned, everything I have ever accomplished, and everything I have ever become for one good book.  Nothing is as dear to me as the ideas, memories and visions that I have obtained from the books in my life.

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”  ― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Never was so great a day for me as when I learned about a library.  A library is a place where all the books in the world are there for people like us to read.  It is a place where race, class, wealth, education, and background do not make one difference.  A free library card is the entry point to all of the knowledge in the world.  Kings, Emperors, Dictators, Presidents, Rulers, Shahs, Ayatollahs, Prime Ministers and common laborers from Wal-Mart are all equal in the library.

Read A Book – Lynbrook Elementary School.  (Please Listen)

Speed readers are no more privileged than slower readers.  Some of us are there for education, some for entertainment, some for enlightenment, some for motivation and some just to relax.  We leave a library larger, strong and more important than when we entered.  Some of us may have degrees, some of us may have titles, some of us may have diplomas and certificates, but the wise person knows that the only real value is in a book.

“Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.” ― Gustave Flaubert

My Title:

Gone With the Wind, Moby Dick, To Hell and Back, The Wizard of Oz, A Tale of Two Cities, War and Peace, Les Misérables, The Prince and the Pauper, The Art of War, The Prince.

My title may be the most important part of me.  It must catch your attention and also convey some idea as to what I am about.  This is not an easy task.  To create curiosity, to excite the imagination, to lure a potential reader to a tale or ideas that will take them to another world or another time!  To offer a promise of greater things to come if only you will open the pages that lie before you. There is more gold between the covers of most books then you will ever find in the ground.  Treasures abound if you will only pick me.  Pick Me!  Pick Me!

My Preface:

Here is where I can tell you a little about my history and also give credit to those other books and people that had an impact on my birth and creation.  Sometimes I get carried away here and bore my readers.  I must try to be interesting and succinct.

My Table of Contents:

Frequently, I like to list the information or chapters that I have inside so you can see what I am all about. This is really helpful when I get posted on Amazon or other book sites and you can get an overview of me to help you decide whether you want to buy me and take me home or download me.

My Introduction:

“So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation which, in the midst of civilization, artificially creates a hell on earth, and complicates with human fatality a destiny that is divine; so long as the three problems of the century – the degradation of man by the exploitation of his labor, the ruin of women by starvation and the atrophy of childhood by physical and spiritual night are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words and from a still broader point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, there should be a need for books such as this.”  ― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“Call me Ishmael.”   ― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people do not know.”   ― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

I can be long or short, but my introduction just may be my most important part.  I need to grab you at the start.  I need to pull you in and make you want to find out more.  I need to peak your curiosity and give you a reason to turn my pages.  I cannot be boring.  That is the only sin I can have, to bore you from the start.  Love me, hate me, but don’t neglect me.  Find out more about me please.  Continue reading. There is so much more I can tell you if you will only keep turning my pages. I promise I will thrill you, excite you, educate you, scare you, interest you but I will never, never, never bore you.

 I Love Reading – Book Song  (Please Listen)

My Chapters:

Here is my meat and muscle.  No room for fat.  I am trimmed and buff.  I have six pack abs all over me.  I keep my chapters uniform and not too long.  That way you will feel like you are making progress.  Every one of my chapters is a cliff hanger.  You will leave one wanting to get to the next one.  You will forget to eat and drink.  You will be late for work and supper.  You will put off your chores.  Time will fly by without your noticing.

You will be so absorbed you will lose weight and not get to bed when you should.  I will entice you with thoughts and ideas that will keep you riveted to my pages.  As you get to the end of me, you will start to feel sad.  It will be like leaving a loved one.  You will want more of me than I can give.  I am sorry.  I loved you too.  But you can read me again another day.

I Love to Read  (Please Listen)

My Ending:

All good things must end.  How shall I end? Shall I end with profundity, climax or conclusions?  Should I be cliff hanger and make you wait until my next volume to get satisfaction as in the “Harry Potter” stories or should I give you finality now as in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?”  Will my ending be bizarre as in Hitchcock or will I lay all the pieces out as in J. A. Vance.  What if I am a serious book, will my hypothesis hold water or will you dismiss me as trivial?  Will I be a one night stand or will you come back for more?

“Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don’t really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way.”  ― C. Joy Bell C.

Time for Questions:

Do you read daily?  Why not?  Do you like to read but cannot find the time?  Do you read to your children or grandchildren?  Do you spend more time watching TV or reading?  What value do you place on knowledge and learning?  How do you reach your goals in these areas?  What if no books were available?   Do you think some books should be banned?  Why or Why not?  Who is your favorite author?  Why?

Life is just beginning.

It you did not listen to the short videos inserted in this blog, you are missing the best part.  Please do yourself a favor and go back and listen to these songs.