CityView Magazine

38 Januar y 2021 GOOD READS FINDING JOY Building Your Own Personal Library BY DIANE PARFITT O n TV news shows today, many of the experts and politicians are being interviewed remotely at home on Zoom or similar web conferencing. e majority of them are sitting in their home library in front of a bookcase. I like trying to read the titles because they oen reflect the political preferences of the person or at least their taste in books. Authors have been known to look to see if they can spot their own book on the shelf, and a home library has become a bit of a status symbol! e most important motivation to own a personal home library is a love of books and a desire to be surrounded by them. Another reason is to set an example for your children. Studies have shown that children who are raised with easy access to books have higher literacy and communication skills as adults. And what better way to encourage this than to have a library close at hand? All you need to start your home library is a bookshelf and a list of books you have read and loved or wish to read. I'm not talking about those paperback beach reads with which we all love to curl up. I'm talking about the important books that meant something to you in your life or those that are considered truly worthy of being called classics. First, go through all the books beside your bed or sitting on tables that you haven't looked at in awhile. If some are books you are never going to read, now is the time to clean house and donate them to a school, thri shop or your favorite used bookstore. Save all the ones that are special to you and that you want to keep. Now you can start building your own unique, personal home library. It should reflect you and your personality, those things you are passionate about and those things you want to learn about. I always say to start with your absolute most favorite books. For me, that would be "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD," one of American's most treasured novels. For a young couple who came into the bookstore awhile ago, their favorite was "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS" by Ernest Hemingway. It had a very special meaning to them, and they wanted the oldest copy they could afford as a wedding present to each other. Aer doing some research, we found a second edition in good condition that met their requirements. ey were on their way to building their own personal library and a life together. Also, think about those books that were transformational for you; the ones you read in high school or college that still stick with you. A young girl came into the store the other day and asked if we had a copy of "THE GREAT GATSBY" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. She had read it in the eighth grade and really connected with the novel, so much so that she had already read it several times. She loved sharing it with others, and thus no longer had her own copy. I told her she was a very special person to have been able to "get it" at such an early age. We had a copy in our store and she was over the moon to be able to have her own copy again. Start with the classics, but add a variety of books, including fiction, nonfiction, biographies and some Build your library with the help of "The Great American Read: The Book of Books" and "Remarkable Books: The World's Most Beautiful and Historic Works." "To Kill a Mockingbird" was voted by readers as America's #1 best- loved novel in "The Great American Read." "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is considered one of the best war novels of the 20th century. "The Great Gatsby," the quintessential novel of the Jazz Age, has been acclaimed by generations of readers. "TO BUILD UP A LIBR ARY IS TO CREATE A LIFE. IT'S NEVER JUST A R ANDOM COLLECTION OF BOOKS." – Carlos María Domínguez, e House of Paper

• Cover