Two friends have had for several years a book swap early in the new year. And now it’s gotten to be one of the rituals that makes the year.
We are all to bring books we are willing to let go of, and to pick up whichever volumes are calling our name. No magazines, it was decided some years back.
So there was a room full of mostly women, tables full of books, plates of fruit and muffins and pots of coffee in a room full of sunshine at Coffee Emporium when I walked in this morning.
I had brought down 6 or 7 books in my bright orange Newtown Feed & Supply bag. And, as I’m sure it was for most of us, it had been a bit hard to let go even of those. An interesting phenomenon.
And then I pretty much allowed new books to come to me. Charlotte’s Web for my honorary granddaughter. Two Sookies by Charlaine Harris – someone had brought down their entire shelf of them. Knowing how hooked I can get on them, I only picked two. And a new series by Charlaine that I did not know even existed. Then Crow Dog – Four Generations of Sioux Medicine Men.
My eye picked out What Were They Thinking? – Unconventional Wisdom about Management. I always like new thinking about organizations. Then Money, Sex, War, Karma – Notes for a Buddhist Revolution. And I always like books about Buddhism and life.
Lastly, a friend of mine handed me perhaps a book she had brought down, or maybe one she saw on the table: What Works for America’s Communities – Essays on People, Place & Purpose, from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Community Development is one of my vocations – and it can become part of our library at the office.
Maybe they will all get read, maybe not. Maybe soon, likely not. They will all be good company nonetheless.