Books...

Let's talk about books. Real, paper, curl up with it on the couch, books. I read pretty quickly, and pass along a lot of books when I'm finished, but there are some I hang onto dearly. I borrowed W's copy of Illusions last year, and loved it so much I asked for my own copy, which he gave me for my birthday. I also love inscriptions inside books when they are gifts- so you'll always remember who gave it to you and when.

So I was thrilled to see that Pretty Pretty Paper and East Side Bride have started Read the Printed Word, a pledge to continue reading real books in this age of iphones and kindles and all manner of electronic thingy-mabobs. They have lovely buttons you can add to your blog (like the image above, or the stack of books to the right) if you decide to take the pledge, and they might even start up a book club around it. 

One of my goals for 2010 is to not only read more good books, but to use the New York Public Libary. I got a library card when I first moved to New York, but as a grad student I spent most of my time in the main research library which is gorgeous (remember the first wedding scene in Sex and the City?), but you can't actually check out any of the books. And there my patronage ended. Until Now. This week I dusted off my library card and got it reactivated. It seems that at some point in the last few years the NYPL has become this amazing, free, "Netflix of Books"! You can save lists of books online, and put things on hold which they will ship to the branch of your choice, and they even tell you how long the wait is. I have six books on hold at the moment- it seems I am number 84 in line for a copy of My Life in France by Julia Child. Yay for books and our amazing system of public libraries!