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Bookends

I always browse through books on sale at the library and often find something to take home. These are the books I keep to read on a rainy day when I have nothing else to do and don't have anything else to read and am too beat to stir out of the house.

Usually those are the days when I am out of the office down with a cold or flu. There is no theme or pattern to these books since they are an assortment of other people's trash collected over a period of time. I love arranging them nicely upon my bookshelf once they become my possession.

Anyone who has ever brought home a stray puppy would be able to relate to the feeling of joy that comes from giving a new lease of life to rejected books. My collection includes volumes by Thoreau, Garcia-Marquez and even poetry by Stanley Kunitz. All for a dollar or less. I have wondered why anyone might want to throw way their copy of Walden.

To leave these books unread is to have so many undiscovered worlds waiting to be discovered when you are ready - at least that is my excuse for collecting what I may not end up reading in a long time. Besides, I like the idea of giving to the library even if in a very small way.

These fish-bowl bookends would be a great addition. If not anything, it would give me an excuse to buy the goldfish I have long wanted and chance to see the titles I own more often.

Talking of Bookends of course brings to mind the Simon and Garfunkel song - the lyrics short and definitive as bookends must be.

 Time it was and what a time it was it was,
A time of innocence a time of confidences.

Long ago it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all thats left you

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