Other People's Creativity

Since 2005 I have kept a record of every book I've read.  I don't know why this list started, or what I was trying to achieve by keeping it, but the list sits proudly on my desk in a spiral-bound notebook.  Titles of every book I've read over the last five years take up twenty-one pages of college-rule paper.  So let's figure this out.  I apologize for the math.


        31 titles / page

X 21 pages

                                       

 651 books!

I have read 651 books over the last five years!  That's a book every 2.8 days!

Holy mackerel, is someone insatiable or what!

I'll admit it, I have a love affair with the written word.    

On my list, books that I have particularly loved have little stars by them, indicating that I would read them again.  Of the 651 books I've digested, only 56 wear a coveted star.

I guess the reason I'm writing this post - aside the fact that at the close of 2010 my spiral notebook was all filled up and I am now wondering if I should continue the list or not - is to honor the writers of these 651 books that I have enjoyed.

Here's to you authors!  You have created worlds that have abducted me to far off, fanciful times and places.  You have crafted romances that have left me weeping for joy.  You have weaved adventures that left me breathless, mysteries that kept me up at night, and classics that - no matter how many times I read them - will never get old.

I applaud your creativity!  I bask in the glory of your written words!  I am in awe.  I count you as blessings.
Your books too are blessings in my life.  A pleasure I could not live without, or sleep without.  You see, a requisite hour of reading is required before I can even think about closing my eyes at night.  Your books have helped me unwind.  They let me escape.  Even the smell of them produced a kind of high for me.
Thank you for your genius!  Thank you for your time.

But most of all, thank you for your words.

Ah, the blessings keep pouring over me!
May they pour over you, too!

-Sylva Leining