Hey how you doing?

I was sitting in the office the other day and I realized that I had books on my shelf that I probably had not read in 10 years. (or longer)

My office is mostly book shelves. I have a wild collection of things. Posable art dolls from a Russian artist I like, little statues, faery houses, D&D miniatures, hand-made christmas ornaments, art projects, etc.  You get the idea.

Some might call it clutter, but I think each maybe the next inspiration for a story. (If I can find it). I am not that person that each book is the exact same size and aligned perfectly on the shelf. It’s more a hodgepodge of nicknacks and a wide variety of books of all shapes sizes and genres. Romance, horror, leadership & business (filed near the horror since they are closely related), fantasy, sci-fi, (D&D books are not in my office – they are in the dining room), YA, kids books, comic books, books on writing and organizing. (Which may be on the shelf upside down.)

My favorite ones you can tell from the lines on the spine.

Even reading the title I can picture my favorite scenes and maybe even pull from my brain’s deep, dark recesses the characters’ names. There are some that I have read hundreds of times. And some I struggle to remember if I managed to read them.

My to-read pile has a faulty queue system, I may have book that has been waiting patiently for over 20 years. Really, I will get to you eventually.

I had the realization that I had less books on my shelf purchased recently. They were almost all old favorites. If I plotted the purchase date over time I think there would be a sharp downturn over the last five years or so. (No, I did not graph it, but was VERY tempted.)

Holy Cats! Was I no longer a reader? Did I no longer love to lose myself in a story? How was that possible? Could I have been taken over and was now a pod person and did not realize it? (Oh, the horror.  Well, unless I get super powers.)

Then the light bulb exploded (not literally, but it was almost as messy). Even though I swore I would never love digital books as much as the real thing, the seductive ease of buying the next book in the series at 2AM won out and my digital library may now exceed the GNP of some small nations.

It made me a little sad. Was I never going to catch my son or daughter with a flashlight and a good book under the covers?

Would Pokémon Go replace their love of reading?

I was truly concerned for a moment. But then I remembered… I am/was a video game addict too. (seriously, I don’t have any games on my computer – I’m afraid I might start a game and wake up a 100 years later with them calling me Mrs. van Winkle).

My kids will be fine. I will just make sure that they too learn to love stories as much as I do and perhaps hide the really good new games on my computer. (You know, so as not to tempt them.)

Have a great week!