I needed to move recently. Which unfortunately, means that the majority of my belongings are in storage, neatly labeled in boxes.  Naturally, this includes the book hoard.  The dragon has been a little more vocal in the last week or two, but at the same time it has been difficult to read new material.  When life gets topsy turvy, the dragon likes to gravitate to familiar worlds.  Novels which I probably know better than I know my best friend.  David Eddings is one of those authors for me. The Belgariad is one of my favorites, but during moments like this, I go for the Elenium and Tamuli.

I know these characters so well.  I eagerly anticipate the sense of adventure, the humorous anecdotes. I mourn their losses, and celebrate their triumphs. It doesn’t matter how many times I read them. My troubles seem to melt away, and the familiarity of the pages help me find my center.

But, my well-worn, well-loved copies are in a box. If it gets too bad, I suppose I could always borrow my dad’s copies… or my brothers…  Ebooks aren’t available in the US, so I went a different route. I love the weight of an actual book, but I also own a Kindle. I live 30 minutes from my closest library branch, so over the years I’ve become pretty familiar with the ebook catalog my library offers.  It makes things easy, even if sometimes the weight of an actual book would be comforting.  I tried ordering a few ebooks online, and even though they are interesting, the dragon was not having it.  So I caved, and took a trip up to the library. I could’ve grabbed the library’s copies of my favorite companions, but I also wanted to branch out.

I realized as I walking the aisles, that I truly don’t remember the last time I just spent an afternoon perusing the library. It was almost therapeutic. I wandered the aisles slowly, looking at each title and reading covers of interest.  The one drawback to the library for me. It never fails that the first book in an interesting series is always checked out.  (Just my luck).  So, I also have a lovely photo album of books I’m considering reading in the future.  I always add the authors to Goodreads so I don’t forget.

 About 5 books in, I told my boyfriend he should set me a limit. He thought I was kidding.  I left with a baker’s dozen. I completely ignored the non-fiction section of the library, and I still had at least 4 aisles I didn’t make it through. Mostly because my arms couldn’t carry anymore. But I also realized, I was relaxed.  I was in the library an hour, but that hour did wonders.  Mentally, I didn’t feel like I was centered, but I also didn’t feel like my focus was still on hyperdrive. My dragon has a borrowed hoard, so hopefully it will quiet down a little.  It would seem that even more than my favorite characters, I just needed to spend time in a familiar and comforting place. Plus, it less expensive than spending an afternoon in Barnes & Noble.

So far, I’ve only picked up one of those books, but it seems like I made some good choices.  As longs as things are topsy turvy, it looks like more physical trips to the library are in my future.

The dragon is thrilled.

Cheers and Happy Reading!