"Build Yourself a Book Nest to Forget the World Without"--Abraham Cowley

My favorite assignments from Travelin'Oma are the book assignments.

In my new house I have a room which serves as my library. It’s something I’ve always wanted, and I love that room. It is full of books. When I have friends ask for a book recommendation we go in there and browse. I ask them what kind of books they like, and then we pick out a few.

That’s my public library. My private library is in my bedroom. Most of it is in a compartment of my headboard behind my pillows. A little of it is on a shelf in the cupboard beside my bed. These are books I do not loan out. Almost all of them are duplicates of ones in the “public library.” These books are the ones I own so they are handy when I need them.

The books on my Desert Island List *(books I would want to have with me if I were stranded on a desert island) are on these shelves, plus a few others. I have a couple of books there that are out of print, and I’ve paid a pretty price for a used copy of them (they were worth it). A few of the books are just fun books that strike my fancy every once in a while. Most of these books remain in these special locations, but there is a little moving in and out as a new book gains favor, or perhaps an old one really does start to seem old and worn out.

My private library is where I turn for reading when I need comfort and reassurance and I know I can get it from one of those books. They provide a reading safety net for me that I don’t often need, but when I do, they are good to have around.

*A few of the books I have on hand: Little Women by Alcott, Mrs. Mike by Freedman, Jane Hope by Gray, Pride and Prejudice by Austen, And Still We Live by MacInnes, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Shaffer, Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, This is All I Ask by Kurland, Two-Part Invention by L’Engle, These Is My Words by Turner