Why Books?

“I cannot live without books.”

Thomas Jefferson gets the attribution for that quote, but many of us have said those said words.

I have been purging books lately, to clean and organize, and to fill our Little Free Library. There are many that I will not part with. A quick count reveals 36 books on the top shelf of the book ladder in my office. That’s just one shelf in one book holder. We have several book cases in various shapes and sizes throughout the rooms of our house. I think we have a very small book collection and it easily numbers in the hundreds.

Have you ever tried to get rid of a book and then decided you just couldn’t let it go? Books have a hold on us.

Take a perusal of your books and look at WHY you hold on to them. What is about your books that keep them in your home instead of the donation box for the library sale?

Most of my keeper books are nonfiction and I cherish them. I have some fiction that I hang on to as well, but those are usually easier for me to pass on to the next delighted reader. I rarely re-read a novel. My nonfiction books are marked up and loved and revisited.

Simply seeing a book cover reminds me of the important content that spoke to me and I tell myself again to “take nothing personally” or live on “Einstein time” or be an “adventure diva.” I use those books as visual aids.

It interests me to hear how people use my books. I learn that they pass them on to someone going through cancer, or going through a divorce, or someone they just wanted to share the uplift. It makes me realize my books are encouraging soldiers out there in the world. I like that.

When we write, we want our words to impact people. We can use story, fiction or nonfiction, and personal inspiration and information.

Perhaps the impact is to inspire them to take a chance, live large, explore. Maybe the impact is to get involved with a cause. Maybe the impact is to encourage them to work with you or hire you to as a speaker.

Impact is in the hands of the author. What do you want your book to do for you, and for others? What have books done for you? Understand what books have made a lasting impression on you, and why. Use that to propel you to do the same for another.