Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com
My little town has been blessed with an independent book store on Main Street. The Old Town Open Book had a soft opening last Friday.
They sold 1700 volumes in six hours! The store was so busy it couldn’t even close on time; the local online paper reported the store stayed open an additional 90 minutes to finish ringing up customers.
What a wonderful problem!
The actual grand opening occurs this Friday evening and over 1000 people on Facebook have indicated they’re going.
I love my Virginia town of Warrenton and its people. Frankly, I’m not in the least surprised by the outpouring of support for our new bookstore.
On the site SeriousReading.com, there is a post called 30 Reasons to Read Books. Check out their post (link below) to read the other 27 benefits of reading a book besides figuring out a new skill, reducing stress, improving vocabulary.
When I used to interview job applicants, I consistently slipped in the question, “What was the last book you read?” Typically, I’d get the deer in headlight stare as a response. Occasionally, someone would answer “Uh, the Bible?” But they would phrase it in such a way to indicate they weren’t quite sure, and perhaps I knew the correct answer.
My public speaking students receive instruction from me on where and how to research a presentation topic. When I reach the point where I include a public library, I’ve actually had people laugh. Recently someone blurted out, “Do they still have those around?” That is just sad.
I encourage students to check out their local library because not only are there books, magazines, and DVDs to help with their research, but also modern libraries have an amazing array of electronic resources to help the public.
Many people, it seems, believe the only way to research a topic is by typing G-O-O-G-L-E.
Having just finished a recently published book titled I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel, I was reminded how vital books are to the human race. Maybe the lack of reading is one of the issues causing so many problems in our world. I wonder how many members of Congress read as a pastime? Mr. President?
Please…get a copy of this book and read it. But no—put down that phone or computer mouse. I don’t want you to order a copy online. I want you to find a bookstore, the smaller the better. If they don’t have it in stock, very likely they’ll be happy to order it for you. And yes, you can tell them Norma sent you.
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The I’d Rather Be Reading book site
Norma:
I well remember a phrase on the jacket of a book, when I was in grade school, which read: “EASY GROWTH IN READING” It still reminds me of how we can continue our self-education and be transported to any other part(s) of the world and life. BTW: The Bible is the best textbook ever written and it has NEVER need revision!!! Do you suppose that THE AUTHOR knew his subject(s)???