Aging of Books

I am still in the middle of Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, and it is proving just as fantastic as before.  Reading my brother's old copy made me think about how books age, both on the shelf and in our hands.    Books hold more than just words; they hold the memories of the times when we've read them.  Have you ever read a book before, and come across an old bookmark, or a dog-eared page?  I always smile when I see these sorts of things, and I am dedicating this post to the aging of books and to the memories we leave behind within them.

I suppose the most common place to find something like this would be in a cookbook.  My mom and I have always loved to cook, and just turning the pages of a cookbook brings back many wonderful memories, and the dog-eared pages of favorite recipes (including some leftover crumbs).

I've found my memories within books in a lot of strange ways.  I just went camping with my family this past weekend, and when I picked up the book after I got home, it still smelled of the campfire (and even had some ashes smudged on the pages!).  It brought me right back to roasting marshmallows for s'mores.

But perhaps my favorite memory that I've found was from our old family cat.  My mom was reading to my brother and I when we were little, and our cat jumped up onto the bed with us and took a nibble right out of the corner of one of the pages!  Normally that would be upsetting... but whenever I go up to my old room, I pull out that same book and find the page with the corner missing, and remember that moment.

So whether it's a torn page, which may seem sacreligious to book lovers or not (see Dead Poet's Society), or a coffee stain from a rainy day... books hold many memories for us all.  So next time you find one, take a moment to appreciate the history your books keep.

DISCLAIMER:  Please be kind to your books.  Don't dog-ear pages.  Use a bookmark!