Bookish Gluttony and Enabling Libraries

When I was a girl, my mom would drop me off at the library and head out on other errands. I’d scamper inside and immediately become absorbed in all the possibilities. Which books would I take home this week?

Thirty minutes later, I’d meet my mom at the car with a giant stack. On the way home, I’d feel rich and full and eager all at the same time.

Is there anything better than being an imaginative child and having free rein in a library, with your own card and everything?

Yes. Being an adult in a library with free rein to check out any books, movies and magazines you desire.
Here’s the truth: I am a wanton library user. Oh, library, how you’ve enabled my bookish gluttony.
Here’s what happens. I hear about a book or listen to an author on a podcast. I immediately go to the Denver Public Library web site and look it up. If they don’t have it, I can order it through the inter-library loan. I just enter my information and the book shows up at some undetermined time in the future.
When I go to pick up or return the books, I always find more. Books I didn’t know I needed to read.
Now, I get my inspiration from other sources, too: podcasts, articles, blogs and interviews all fuel my creativity. But as a book coach, I know what goes into writing a book. Book writing is soul work, calling all parts of us to the table to put a body of work into form. I respect that.

On my reading shelf now

I am sure it’s from my book selling days, this need to share titles with people. The rest of this newsletter is devoted to the books I’m reading now. There just may be a few titles in here for you!
First, two non-library books I purchased.

My friend Alexandra Jamieson’s new book is out: Women, Food and Desire. I dove in and love it! She has a great podcast too, called Crave Cast where she talks about women’s health and happiness.

I also just started Claudia Azula Altucher’s Become an Idea Machine. The challenge is to make a list of ten ideas every day. The promise: this will change your life. Claudia offers a sequence of list ideas. I am on day three and so far I love it.

Maira Kalman (my favorite contemporary artist) has two new books – My Favorite Things and Aaaa to Zig Zag, an illustration of select objects from the Hewitt Cooper Museum in NYC in honor of its re-opening. This book was the inspiration for a puzzle that depicts several of the paintings. When I heard that, I immediately bought it.

Jeffrey Oliver’s Once Upon an Alphabet  is a charming illustrated story book of the letters.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s How to Eat, a short illustrated mediation on eating.

GO: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd – I wish I could keep this longer; I’ll likely buy it because it’s so fun and useful. I’m trying to learn graphic design and books like this make it fun.

Pen and Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them illustrated by Wendy McNaughton (another favorite artist)

Best American Travel Writing 2014 I’m not sure I will read this but I’ve been feeling that February wanderlust kick in so I picked this favorite series up.

Instant Expert by Lonely Planet contributor Nigel Holmes is also illustrated in a variety of engaging info graphics. This is interesting to me to see how one can lay out information on a page in a visual format.

Tony Robbins’ Money: Master the Game is a weighty tome. My first thought was I wouldn’t be able to get through it on my own. My second thought was to read it along with others book group fashion.

Sonia Choquette’s memoir Walking Home is on the shelf. My healer artist friend Robin is really loving this spiritual memoir, so I checked it out.

Pico Iyer’s book The Art of Stillness is interesting. I got it on audio and his voice is great. He’s one of my favorite travel writers and this book is about meditating and going nowhere. It’s a good peek into meditation and he’s a great writer.

Also on audio Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman I’ve been listening to comedians lately and when I saw this, I thought it would be worth a listen.

Phew! That’s it. Next week, nay, tomorrow, there will be a whole new stack of books. Luckily I have a system down. I keep them all on a shelf by the door so library books don’t get mixed in with mine. I don’t let them take over the studio or office.

In the end, I am oh so grateful to have this richness at my fingertips. As a girl, my stack of books represented my own world, one I didn’t share with anyone in my family. The books changed from giant picture books to serial books to horror and romance.
I’m back with picture books and romance has been replaced with non-fiction books that help me understand the human condition. Books are food to me. Sometimes I am a glutton. Other times, I fast, immersing myself in the world’s stories first-hand.

I am and always will be a book worm. I’ve written books and it’s incredibly satisfying to help my clients write their books. Are you this bookish too?

What local resource nourishes your passions?
Do you go to your local library?
What role do books play in your life now?