Saturday, September 3, 2011

bibliophilia


In a good bookroom you feel, 
in some mysterious way, 
that you are absorbing the wisdom 
contained in all the books through your skin, 
without even opening them. 

Mark Twain



photo:  Karen Wickliff Books, Columbus, Ohio, my favorite second-hand bookstore, with the creaky hardwood floors and lovely retro tile

44 comments:

  1. Thank you for the post. I love books, too!

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  2. Oh I could sit in there for days, maybe forever ;)

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  3. OSMOSIS IN THE LIBRARY

    Osmosis at work
    osmosizing me as we speak
    As we read
    And even as we sit
    Surrounded in a library
    Of books

    The words fly out
    Who said they were stuck in the first place?
    The collected works
    Collect in the air
    Enter the brain
    And osmosose into even
    the comatose.

    Frankly I felt fully mosed
    this morning
    But look!
    New words entering at 3 o’clock
    (hope they’re not some accounting text
    Poetry is what we need)

    Poetry is what we need.

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  4. Nothing like a good pile of books!
    thanks-

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  5. I hope to be as gregarious as Twain one day..Funny how the only real proof of the afterlife there is should be script on paper...Cheers mate!..Lovely image too!

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  6. Iloveherandhowimportant being surrounded by books though we did get rid of quite a few when we moved. Just no place to put them.

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  7. Lovely post and photo! We have one book store in SF very like...
    I have spent many dreamy hours and $$$) there. Books and shoes!!!! My two favourites! Ah, wonderful!

    Have a great L-O-N-G holiday.

    Love,

    ♥ Robin ♥

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  8. That's a lot of books to read~

    Cassy from Acoustic Guitar Online

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  9. The smell, the feel of books - pure magic before one even opens them.

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  10. Very lucky here- there are more book stores than churches, book shoppes on every corner- free books out front- books books books! And a good thing too, the weather demands books and fires and cups of tea!

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  11. Perfect place for an afternoon nap after a liquid lunch ... books!

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  12. I always want the one on the bottom of the stack : )

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  13. Looks like a photo of every room in my 4 bedroom, empty-nest house. When the kids left, I filled their bedrooms with books and more books. It's an obsession. I'm a total bookslut!I've sworn to myself to downsize from thousands of books to mere hundreds by the year's end. Easier said than done. Great photo!!

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  14. if that were only true....
    i would be a wizard by now!
    xxx

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  15. Yeah for bookshops!
    I loved the idea in a Paul Auster novel of someone sleeping on a bed above trunks loaded with books
    and how his dreams wafted up at him from beneath!
    Happy weekend, Willow.

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  16. My goodness -- your bibliophilia looks like my work area -- books stacked everywhere. I don't know about you but kindles just don't do it for me -- put an old book in my hands and off I go into another world of comfort and intrigue. -- barbara

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  17. Anon, osmosis on the brain this week...me,too! We do, indeed need poetry...thank you for this charming piece...

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  18. Linda Sue, my second favorite second-hand bookshop is actually housed in an old church building...

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  19. LadyCat, me, too, but somehow I always manage to pull it out...sort of like whipping off the tablecloth without disturbing the dishes!

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  20. Exploring in a good second hand bookshop is fun in the way exploring in someone's attic is with old trunks and boxes of treasures.

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  21. If I went in there, I would never come out...

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  22. So many books; so little time. Sigh!

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  23. So much better to just sit on the floor and let books occupy the chairs. Fabulous!

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  24. Oh, dear, that's what my house would look like if I didn't thin ruthlessly now and then and cart off some books to the library book sale.

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  25. What a fantastic photo and quote. You always have the best stuff on here, Willow -- both your own and others'. Thank you!

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  26. I've added you to my Pinterest board!

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  27. Thank you, Elizabeth! I am honored, dear friend.

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  28. I don't know if it's osmosis, but I do feel energies from all the books when I am in a bookshop.

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  29. Your picture reminds me of my parents home. All well and good until they went to the great cluttering in the sky, when Cro was forced (single-handedly) to clear it all up. It took MONTHS.

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  30. It always impresses me that 2nd-hand bookstore owners know where is every book in their store--without a map.

    Like a nun knowing the history of every child in an orphanage.

    Nice smell. Floors remind me of the old drug store, with soda fountain.

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  31. This looks like a visual representation of my 'to read' list!

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  32. Cro, "great cluttering in the sky" I love that...my dear grandmother is there...

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  33. Steve E, Karen Wickliff, who owns this store, knows everything there is to know about books, as well as if she has a particular book, and exactly where it is, in the midst of the clutter.

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  34. Martin, mine, too...so many books, so little time...especially now that there's Facebook...giggle...

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  35. Your image in my sidebar reeled me in...... and I could feel the magic before i even got here. Great quote!

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  36. Networking, watching films, reading books,
    writing poetry, writing prose, facebooking,
    blogging, my God, we have become so
    very involved in our passions that our
    gardens are somewhat neglected, our
    cars are dusty, and our children wonder
    if we still breathe; ain't it grand?!

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  37. Great photo, Tess, and I so agree with Twain about the importance of being in a room full of books. Books speak to us in mysterious ways, whether read or not, but preferably read.

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  38. I love when chairs groan with books. Great photo. Have a good weekend. Whatcha cooking? I'm craving Texas BBQ but I'm going Italian.
    Catherine

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  39. Catherine, it's all American pulled pork with coleslaw at the manor this weekend!

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  40. I know just what he means. I'm not sure I'll ever get that feeling with my Kindle, but I do like being able to take all those books with me, wherever I go...

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  41. Oh, true. Oh, this place! All those books, and that wonderful tile floor . . .

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  42. Well that looks a bit like heaven to me!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)