Oh, the dusty, musty aroma of old books.  There’s nothing like it.  When I was a child, the library was my favourite place to be.  My Grade Five teacher, Mrs. Fogal, wrote on my report card that I “consumed books.”  I still do.  I love reading, and I’m a fast reader.

My only reading rule is to read for pure enjoyment.  This doesn’t mean trashy or cheap novels; in fact, I really don’t enjoy most “chick lit” (I tried to read the Shopaholic book series once.  I stopped about three chapters in – the plot was thin, and the main character was a shallow, vapid human being.  Ugh.)  It means that I don’t make myself read something I feel I should read because it’s popular or important or “literature.”  I read Jane Austen and Emily Bronte, but I also read Game of Thrones, and Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games, and non-fiction, historical fiction, and sometimes, I’ll admit it, self-help books (When Panic Attacks by David Burns saved my sanity!)

I haven’t made the leap to an e-reader yet.  I probably will someday, but I just can’t let go of the feel of a book in my hand.  Besides, how would I thumb ahead to sneak a peek at the end of a chapter with an e-reader?  Here’s some things to do with much-loved old books that you desperately need to retire but just don’t have the heart to throw away.

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