As we say in Italian, or, in English – a bookworm, a mostly harmless beast, usually found in libraries and bookshops, or gravitating around bookshelves and bedside tables.
This is a wonderful story. As a child, I would rather read than play much of the time. Our family valued books and reading. Now that no one bothers me to play, I manage a few hours every day. Heaven!
Thanks, Janice, you're preaching to the choir! Your job is very demanding, and I hope you get to enjoy at least a couple of hours of blissful reading every day.
I was also a voracious reader growing up! The first book I can remember reading to myself and really loving is Frog and Toad are Friends. I still really love Frog and Toad, and I still very much love to read! I recently finished The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (which was utterly fantastic), and I am currently reading If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin.
Hi Laney, thanks for your comment! You can never forget first books, nor first loves. I loved Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea, I think I'll love The Dispossessed too. Baldwin is definitely on my list as well.
I definitely want to read Earthsea now that I read and loved The Dispossessed! I highly recommend it- I’m not usually a sci-fi reader, but it definitely made me more open to the genre. A really special book. And Baldwin is a force of nature!
Loved this post! Thank you for sharing. I'm also a bookworm, and a book hoarder - or let's call it on a nicer name, a book collector, though occasionally I allow my husband to donate some books to our local library. yes, I was also a library mouse, though growing up, our house was the one all my friends would find books. I was still looking, in everyone's house, so you are not alone. I would've loved to have you as a house guest, as a best friend, would've been hiding with you reading together in a quiet spot. Since I didn't have a best friend like you, I would make it a point to lend books to my friends, secretly hoping to get them "stung by the Bookish Bee" (I love your imagery, of course I had to use it), as I was. Thank you for this post!
Thank you for reading and leaving such a lovely comment, Emese-Réka, köszönöm! Think how many wonderful books we could have read together. The great writer Jorge Luis Borges said: 'I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library', and I sure wish to spend my eternal life there too.
Not high-falutin at all, but cool. What a lovely piece, Portia.
I, too, was in love with dictionaries as a child (I still am). My mother’s Italian being the most beautiful, and her huge volumes of English the most exciting. She was not as your mother sounds, thankfully, and passed her love of words (across french, italian, and english) to all her children.
How wonderful. This is like a mini-autobiography in books. I was a dictionary reader too. So much of who I am has been shaped by the books I've read and loved. Thanks for sharing the ones that have shaped you!
I scarcely remember a time before I loved books. Even as a toddler, before I could read, I would memorize the stories my Mom read to me, and if she tried to skip over a page or speed things up, I would call her out on it!
I'm a book lover, bookworm and book hoarder. You'll find books everywhere my relatively small Japanese house. My wife periodically threatens to either burn or throw them away, but I can't resist getting more of them.
I'm also a rather slow reader, which means there are currently about 100 books on my shelves patiently waiting to be read. I recently read one I had originally bought some 20 years ago.
Sono un amante dei libri, un topo di biblioteca e un "accumulatore" di libri. Troverai libri ovunque nella mia piccola casa giapponese. Mia moglie minaccia periodicamente di bruciarli o di buttarli via, ma non posso resistere a prenderne altri.
Sono anche un lettore piuttosto lento, il che significa che attualmente ci sono circa 100 libri sui miei scaffali che aspettano pazientemente di essere letti. Recentemente ne ho letto uno che avevo acquistato originariamente circa 20 anni fa.
I'm 100% with you, Gianni, and W la Résistance! Just think how many wonderful hours of reading you have to look forward to! I'm sure your house is still very kawaii, please tell your wife to be patient, there are far worse obsessions: you could collect MAGA hats and guns. ;-)
I loved this so much, I remember finding For Whom the Bell Tolls at 10 and devouring it, I didn’t understand it or appreciate it but it somehow sunk into my bones and became a part of me. When I studied to become a librarian I we read the rights of a reader and it resonated so much with me in so many ways (especially escapism)
This is lovely! I was also a voracious reader and had no one to impress and I love how you bring us into the wondrous world of this smart, gifted, artistic soul of a girl. One of my favorite memories is lying on the floor listening to a record of Greek myths or escaping to read Crime and Punishment, not realizing how much that the title spoke to my family’s circumstances. Oh, those hidden away moments, eh? What are your current reading delights? I really love your Substack!
Margo, you always say the sweetest things, thank you! Now – Crime and Punishment – that's a story you have to tell us, if you feel like sharing it, of course. I'm currently reading Japanese haikus and the "Empire of Signs" essay by Roland Barthes, for an article I'll be writing for Substack. Before that, I read again all of Chekhov stories, I've been influenced by George Saunders and his book on Russian Literature. What about you?
That sounds fantastic. I just finished Everyday Something Has Tried to Kill Me and Has Failed, essays by Kim McLarin and now reading Survivor Cafe by Elizabeth Rosner. Recent fiction was Chilean Poet by Alejandro Zambra and revisiting short stories by Guy de Maupassant. And this morning came across a wonderful hybrid essay by Nina Adel called Refugere. There are so many more I want to mention! And hear of yours! About crime and punishment, the tale was told in The Opposite of Hollywood ☺️.
Great read, thank you for sharing. I would have to say my favorite memory is of my father reading to me every night up until I was 15 or so. He was a bibliophile of great proportions. He started with Penrod by Booth Tarkington and one of the last ones I remember was The Gulag Archipelago. Needless to say, I had very little choice but to love books as well. :-)
This is a wonderful story. As a child, I would rather read than play much of the time. Our family valued books and reading. Now that no one bothers me to play, I manage a few hours every day. Heaven!
Thanks, Janice, you're preaching to the choir! Your job is very demanding, and I hope you get to enjoy at least a couple of hours of blissful reading every day.
I was also a voracious reader growing up! The first book I can remember reading to myself and really loving is Frog and Toad are Friends. I still really love Frog and Toad, and I still very much love to read! I recently finished The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (which was utterly fantastic), and I am currently reading If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin.
Hi Laney, thanks for your comment! You can never forget first books, nor first loves. I loved Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea, I think I'll love The Dispossessed too. Baldwin is definitely on my list as well.
I definitely want to read Earthsea now that I read and loved The Dispossessed! I highly recommend it- I’m not usually a sci-fi reader, but it definitely made me more open to the genre. A really special book. And Baldwin is a force of nature!
You sure can sell a book, Laney! You're going to love Earthsea, Ursula was such a great writer and all-around great lady.
Can’t wait to get to it!
Loved this post! Thank you for sharing. I'm also a bookworm, and a book hoarder - or let's call it on a nicer name, a book collector, though occasionally I allow my husband to donate some books to our local library. yes, I was also a library mouse, though growing up, our house was the one all my friends would find books. I was still looking, in everyone's house, so you are not alone. I would've loved to have you as a house guest, as a best friend, would've been hiding with you reading together in a quiet spot. Since I didn't have a best friend like you, I would make it a point to lend books to my friends, secretly hoping to get them "stung by the Bookish Bee" (I love your imagery, of course I had to use it), as I was. Thank you for this post!
Thank you for reading and leaving such a lovely comment, Emese-Réka, köszönöm! Think how many wonderful books we could have read together. The great writer Jorge Luis Borges said: 'I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library', and I sure wish to spend my eternal life there too.
Oh, I love the idea of a library mouse! Thank you for taking us on this journey with you! 📚💖
Thank you for jumping on board with me, Catherine!
Not high-falutin at all, but cool. What a lovely piece, Portia.
I, too, was in love with dictionaries as a child (I still am). My mother’s Italian being the most beautiful, and her huge volumes of English the most exciting. She was not as your mother sounds, thankfully, and passed her love of words (across french, italian, and english) to all her children.
What a lovely thing to remember her by, Nicolas, what a wonderful mamma!
Yikes. Realised I forgot German!!!
Indeed, it is a lovely way to remember.
How wonderful. This is like a mini-autobiography in books. I was a dictionary reader too. So much of who I am has been shaped by the books I've read and loved. Thanks for sharing the ones that have shaped you!
Hi Sarah, thanks for your lovely comment! Dictionaries are great fun.
I scarcely remember a time before I loved books. Even as a toddler, before I could read, I would memorize the stories my Mom read to me, and if she tried to skip over a page or speed things up, I would call her out on it!
Toddlers make the most demanding readers. And those are the sweetest memories.
I'm a book lover, bookworm and book hoarder. You'll find books everywhere my relatively small Japanese house. My wife periodically threatens to either burn or throw them away, but I can't resist getting more of them.
I'm also a rather slow reader, which means there are currently about 100 books on my shelves patiently waiting to be read. I recently read one I had originally bought some 20 years ago.
Sono un amante dei libri, un topo di biblioteca e un "accumulatore" di libri. Troverai libri ovunque nella mia piccola casa giapponese. Mia moglie minaccia periodicamente di bruciarli o di buttarli via, ma non posso resistere a prenderne altri.
Sono anche un lettore piuttosto lento, il che significa che attualmente ci sono circa 100 libri sui miei scaffali che aspettano pazientemente di essere letti. Recentemente ne ho letto uno che avevo acquistato originariamente circa 20 anni fa.
I'm 100% with you, Gianni, and W la Résistance! Just think how many wonderful hours of reading you have to look forward to! I'm sure your house is still very kawaii, please tell your wife to be patient, there are far worse obsessions: you could collect MAGA hats and guns. ;-)
Thanks Portia, I'll pass your comment on to my boss... I mean, my wife.
I loved this so much, I remember finding For Whom the Bell Tolls at 10 and devouring it, I didn’t understand it or appreciate it but it somehow sunk into my bones and became a part of me. When I studied to become a librarian I we read the rights of a reader and it resonated so much with me in so many ways (especially escapism)
https://medium.com/be-unique/the-10-honest-rights-of-the-reader-according-to-daniel-pennac-2e132336881a
What an image: books sunk into your bones, especially when you're so receptive to them, as in your childhood. Thank you, Nancy!
Such a tender and heartfelt exploration of developing a love for reading during childhood. And I love the term Library Mouse.
This is lovely! I was also a voracious reader and had no one to impress and I love how you bring us into the wondrous world of this smart, gifted, artistic soul of a girl. One of my favorite memories is lying on the floor listening to a record of Greek myths or escaping to read Crime and Punishment, not realizing how much that the title spoke to my family’s circumstances. Oh, those hidden away moments, eh? What are your current reading delights? I really love your Substack!
Margo, you always say the sweetest things, thank you! Now – Crime and Punishment – that's a story you have to tell us, if you feel like sharing it, of course. I'm currently reading Japanese haikus and the "Empire of Signs" essay by Roland Barthes, for an article I'll be writing for Substack. Before that, I read again all of Chekhov stories, I've been influenced by George Saunders and his book on Russian Literature. What about you?
That sounds fantastic. I just finished Everyday Something Has Tried to Kill Me and Has Failed, essays by Kim McLarin and now reading Survivor Cafe by Elizabeth Rosner. Recent fiction was Chilean Poet by Alejandro Zambra and revisiting short stories by Guy de Maupassant. And this morning came across a wonderful hybrid essay by Nina Adel called Refugere. There are so many more I want to mention! And hear of yours! About crime and punishment, the tale was told in The Opposite of Hollywood ☺️.
Great read, thank you for sharing. I would have to say my favorite memory is of my father reading to me every night up until I was 15 or so. He was a bibliophile of great proportions. He started with Penrod by Booth Tarkington and one of the last ones I remember was The Gulag Archipelago. Needless to say, I had very little choice but to love books as well. :-)
What a lovely memory, what an amazing, great dad! Thank you for sharing, Tim!