The Smell of a Good Book
Written by Jen Wednesday, 18 August 2010 15:51
Blog
Ahhh. There's nothing like the smell of a new book. Or an old book. Or even a textbook. Weird, I know.
My daughter and I just discovered that we share this appreciation for the unmistakable scent of words begging to be read. Not everyone relishes the distinctive aroma of a new paperback or the mustiness of a yellowed volume of poetry. Maybe this quality stems from surrounding our kids with books since birth. But part of me believes it's an inherited trait.
In my family, we have several mutations of the book-lovers gene. My husband collects books, mostly reference books. He has a particular love for the "Dummies" series. You know, spell-binding stuff like 401 (k)s for Dummies, Exchange-Traded Funds for Dummies and Adobe®Creative Suite® 3 Design Premium for Dummies. (One day I joked that I could really use Parenting For Dummies to complete the set, then I found out it actually exists! ) I put a basket in our bedroom for the overflow stack, but the tower now reaches about three-feet high. If the walls were lined with bookshelves, it wouldn't be enough to contain his growing library.
My eldest son's book fetish is different. Books to him are sacrosanct. He has read one particular book eight times, yet it appears as if the spine has never been cracked open. You'll never see him dog ear a page. When he was first encouraged by a teacher to make notations in the margins of a school book, I think he actually turned green. When it comes to loaning books to his siblings, it's a serious exercise in negotiation.
What a contrast to my younger son! Also a book lover, his books live (and travel) with him. Tucked in car door pockets and strewn all over his bedroom, books are cherished companions. Like my husband, he collects reference books, but the subjects vary from rocks and minerals to character animation and science fiction. He never uses a book mark because he just remembers where he left off, which I find amazing when compared with my page-marking system of post-it notes, library receipts and coupons.
Leaving the library yesterday, my daughter inhaled deeply and sighed. So many books, so few summer days left! She can lose herself in a good book for hours, so these back-to-school days are bittersweet. While our frequent library jaunts will come to a close, we talked about plans to take our work there in the evenings, something we have rarely done on school days because the kids are tethered to the computer, writing papers and doing online research. Getting back to book basics is my goal for the year. Maybe I'll finally read Moby Dick (or not).
The kids are hardly eager for school to start, or so they say. My son groaned as he tossed The Essential Homer into his pile of school books last night . But was that the hint of a sparkle in his eye? I didn't see him smell the pages, but there's still time.
