I learned something new today, and I wish I had known it sooner. Do you know there is a National Book Lovers Day? I did not know that! This Sunday, August 9, 2015 is National Book Lovers Day and I plan to celebrate.
First, I’m going to make sure I have piles and piles of books ready and waiting. Of course, I already do have piles and piles of books ready and waiting, but I will get a few more from the Topsham Public Library because there is no such thing as too many books, and I want to make sure I am prepared. (If you need to pick up a few more books to help celebrate your day, remember we aren’t open on Sundays so make sure you visit us before then.)
Secondly, I’m going to make sure my family knows that I won’t be cooking on National Book Lover’s Day. I don’t want to think about food, and I don’t want to talk about food. This is a personal preference and I’m sure many book lovers will cook on this great day. Perhaps they have a favorite cookbook from which they will make strawberry crepes or sticky buns or quiche or whatever their heart desires. But me, no cooking.
Then, I’m going to read. I will read inside, and I will read outside. I will read funny things, and I will read sad things. I will read to myself, and I will read to my children. I may read a poem or two to them like O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman (it brings tears to my eyes every time) or Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer or Psalm 23. And I will ask them to read to me. Then I will read quietly to myself something I have never read before, and I will read out loud passages from old favorites like Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.
That is how I will choose to celebrate National Book Lover’s Day, but there are many more ways one can celebrate it. Give a book to a friend. Give a book to yourself. Or, you could give a book to a stranger (at bookcrossing.com you can register a book and then leave it in a public place for someone to find). You could have book lover friends over, or go out together and talk books and read together. Discuss old books and new books and banned books and overlooked books.
Whatever you decide to do this Sunday, August 9, 2015, we hope you have a great National Book Lover’s Day!