30 Days of Pictures - Day 9

A Picture of Your Favorite Book

Bet you thought I had forgotten all about this particular series of blogs, huh? Well, I hadn’t. Just too many other things to write about. I had to go all the way back to the beginning of March to find out what number I was on. 

The first book that came to mind was “Shut Up and Eat Your Snowshoes” by Jack Douglas. I had seen him on the talk shows on TV, and had read some of his very funny memoirs. In 1970 the Snowshoes book was available at the local library on advance loan. That meant you had ONE WEEK to read this book and then had to return it. You couldn’t renew it until it had been in the system for a certain period of time. I snapped it up and brought it to school where I shared it with my friend Terrea. We would read a chapter and then hand it over. In that manner we both got the book read in plenty of time. (I’m not admitting how much of it was read DURING a class…) BTW, I was a junior in HS…just in case you wondered.

After that, I checked that book out many, many times over the years. Whenever I was feeling down, I would check that book out. It never failed to cheer me up. Unfortunately, that meant I checked this book out A LOT for several years running. I was overjoyed when I found this book at a used book sale at the library. Now it was forever at my beck and call. I also have the sequel to this. The books tell of the author’s years living with his family in Canada with their pet wolf.

The second book that came to mind was almost as important: “Does It Make Into A Bed?” by Lorna Novak. This was another “cheer up” book that would take me outside myself, and I’ve read it countless times. Unfortunately, unlike “Snowshoes”, this book left the library system and the time came when I went to check it out and it was gone. This was LONG before the Internet, and my only source was a book finding company. I paid a nominal fee for them to look for this book. Months went by. Nothing. The book finders said I no longer had to pay a fee, but they would continue to keep my request on record and if the book showed up, they’d let me know. Years went by. Then out of the blue came a notice that they had tracked the book down. I am embarrassed to say what I paid for this book. But when I sat down and read it again after so many years (even though I didn’t particularly need the cheering up at that point) I enjoyed it just as much as ever. It was written in the early 60’s, so it’s pretty outdated, but I love it just the same. It’s about a housewife and mother in Texas, just trying to get through the days as best she can and keep her man happy. Funny as all get out.

Even though I’m on a much more even keel now and don’t need the “cheer ups” like I used to, these books are so dear to my heart that all I have to do is LOOK at them on the bookshelf and they bring a smile to my face.