Confessions Of A Bookworm

Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Accordingly, a bibliophile is an individual who loves books.  I am a bibliophile.  In layman's terms, I am a bookworm. Since my childhood, I've been an avid reader.  Yes, I was that girl, the one that got in trouble for reading in class when she should be paying attention to the teacher.  My fourth grade math teacher actually sent a letter home to my parents about it.  I spent summer vacations with my nose buried in a book and at night read under the blanket with a flashlight till the wee hours of the morning.  I still get a knot of excitement in my stomach when I enter a library and I'm particularly fond of the distinctive "library book" smell. :o) I still remember books that were read to me when I was in preschool and cherish the memory of listening to my teachers read chapter books aloud after lunch. When our school librarian set piles of old or damaged books aside to discard, I would "rescue" them and take them home.

 Here they are now, a few of the aforementioned books, in all their dilapidated glory.

So you see, it's fair to say that I've had a passionate, lifelong love affair with books. As a direct result of that,  I own a great number of books.  I have books that I've carried with me since I was a child, moving with me from one home to another. (9 homes to be exact) Many of them are worn and tattered, others have my name sprawled all over the first page, written in beautiful, third grade beginners cursive handwriting. Their pages are yellow, stained and torn.  It may seem silly to some to keep these books that are in such poor condition and which I have already read numerous times, but to me they are too precious to discard.  I cannot express what a thrill it has been for me to read my cherished childhood books aloud to my own children.  As many of you know, I also home school my three children and have always sought to instill in them a love for reading that I hope they too will carry into adulthood.  This means books, books, and more books! Books from garage sales, Half Price Books, thrift stores, library sales, birthday and Christmas gifts, online stores,  and even a few from (although not many) purchased new from Barnes and Noble. (Reduce, Reuse Recycle!)

For those of you who wonder what little girls do while mommy is busy on a big project.

As I mentioned in this post a few days back, we have been busy tackling a new bedroom project, our bookcase.  I've thought long and hard, and searched for inspiration pictures high and low, to find  an aesthetically pleasing way to display my dear yet (hurts to say this) ugly collection of books.  The bookcase in my bedroom contains many of my books, my hub's reference and study books, some homeschooling text books, and the kid's chapter books.  Here is a picture I shared last week of what the bookcase looked like the week after we moved into our new home in New Jersey. Books, homeschooling supplies, binders, puzzles and board games all placed haphazardly on the shelves.  Chaotic, to say the least.

I then moved the bookcases to another corner of the room where they fit perfectly in a niche created by the chimney column.  I removed many of the homeschooling supplies and transferred them to other bookcases I have upstairs in the attic.  (Supplies that are needed on a daily basis are downstairs because we now do our lessons in the dining room)  Here are a couple of pictures of the bookcases as they looked just last week...

Yes, the bookcase on the left is currently being held up by a small pile of books.  Don't worry, these are just trashy romance novels that were given to me and I never read past the first page. No, not all books are worth reading, but can be useful nonetheless.  My husband is known near (New Jersey) and far (Texas) for using very unorthodox methods to achieve desired results (pretty why of sayin' he's....Ghetto!)  It was his idea to use the books.  They were needed because our bedroom floor is very uneven and slopes drastically in that corner.  We raised the bookcase on the left, leveled it to match the bookcase on the right, and then screwed the two together.  They are both also attached to the wall with safety straps.

With the arrangement and overall look of the bookcases, there were a few things that were not really working for me and that I knew I wanted to change.  Simply stated, too busy.   We are going for what I call a cool and crisp look in this room. We want simple, clean, and bright.  You know what they say, less is more.  I'll leave you for now with some of the great inspiration pictures I found. 

Southern Living

 Apartment Therapy

 Photo Credit Susan Moses - 3D Blur Design seen on Bungalow 8

Unknown Source - Seen on Abode Love

 Sarah Richardson

 Seen at Tillys Cottage

Southern Living

 Amy D. Morris Interiors

 Tobi Fairely seen on Developing Designs

So, what do you think? You notice what they all have in common?  Just a hint as to what we're doing with our own bookcase. Check back soon for our big reveal. --chuckle, giggle, snort--  858 words, 14 pictures, and loads of drama for a seemingly insignificant bookcase.  As the title of this blog points out, it's the precious little things in life that often bring the greatest pleasure.