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| Story ID: | 2281 |
| Written by: | Cynthia Jo Ross (bio, contact, other stories) |
| Organization: | Lens to the Past |
| Story type: | Biography |
| Writers Conference: | $100 Prize - Shannon Hyle Memorial Contest – “For the Love of Books" |
| Location: | Towanda Kansas USA |
| Year: | 2007 |
| Person: | Book Lover |
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Books, Books & More Books I was always fascinated by any movie or story about a house with a room they called a library and if there were secret doors even better. Most of the time those houses when described were larger than any home I ever hoped to own. Seeing those large rooms with bookcases reaching the ceiling & needing a ladder to reach half the collection seemed like an unattainable goal. At age twelve I started my own collection of books. My first book was Freckles, by Gene Stratton-Porter written in early 1900’s. My grandfather Clarence gave it to me for Christmas. I enjoyed Freckles so much I started reading others by the same author and buying them at garage sales for a quarter. At this time I have most of her books but still looking for some of her nature books which are rare & hard to find, other than to pay dearly for them on e-bay. The prices of Gene’s books have certainly gone up in price with a cost ranging from $25.00 - $100.00. Other books that are my favorites include Little Women & Little Men. It wasn’t long before I was collecting books by Louisa May Alcott & also books by Beatrix Potter. My interest in reading usually includes anything to do with animals, horses, the old west, mysteries, & soft romance. I also enjoy books written by Janette Oke, Lori Wick & Dorothy Garlock. Books written by Kansas Authors are definitely keepers, because many of them I’ve enjoyed meeting through the years at different writing conferences held across the state. As a member of Kansas Authors Club, which is over 100 years old, I find it interesting to hear how the authors were able to get their 1st book published. Some time ago at a garage sale I purchased a copy of the Shirley Temple, authorized edition, of Heidi. Just owning the book reminds me of curly haired Shirley and all the movies she made. Many of the books on my bookshelves are ones I’ve read & plan to reread, others I just enjoy owning them, others are books I will someday get around to reading. One whole bookcase in my library holds how-to writing books, another bookcase has poetry. Some of my poems are published in several of the chapbooks. I’m close to having my own book of poems published and can’t wait to add it to the shelf. I added boards to the top of several of my shelves in order to hold more books. On one top shelf are Kansas History books. Another top shelf keeps my dictionaries, reference, and thesaurus. Below them are my Bibles, along with many women’s study books. The next shelf has my many research books. The bookcase next to my computer desk has extra shelves added to it to hold paperback books. It originally was made for only five shelves & now holds eight. My husband Larry laid claim to one bookcase for his collections of Louis L’A mour, Erle Stanly Gardner & Edgar Rice Burroughs, plus numerous science fiction writers. The bedroom bookcase holds all the overflow of books, usually the most recently bought. These are the ones I’m most likely to read next. I filled this bookcase in just fifteen minutes with just books that were piled here & there in my bedroom. At that point I made a pledge not to buy any more books until I’d read enough to empty a shelf. Fortunately I broke that pledge within a week after making it. Right now there’s a large box of books setting on the front porch waiting for me to find space to bring them inside. I used to believe there was no such thing as too many books---but I’ve even began double stacking some of my bookshelves. I do resell or donate some of the books I’ve read, stacking them in the closet until I find them a new home. The local library has a used book sale every year. This yearly sale is great for unloading those extra books, but I then buy even more, especially when I find one of my favorite authors. My husband tends to throw away what he considers bad books; meaning he may have finished it but the plot was terrible or the author killed off a good guy. On the other hand I’d have a hard time throwing a book away in fact I don’t think I ever have. I guess it would have to be really trashy to just pitch it as rubbish. In our living room both sides of the fireplace hold even more books. Nature and all kinds of bird related books take up the space in bookcase on the right and the other side is mainly my collection of Gene Stratton-Porter and other older books. To honor Gene for instilling in me the love of reading I’ve taken up doing 1st person performances in costume, a one woman show so to speak, as the Birdwoman of Limberlost Swamp. Her books will always be a treasure to me. |
