I love books.

This is a seemingly obvious thing for an English teacher to say, but notice that I didn't say I love to read. I do, of course. I just finished James Ellroy's giant, brutal crime novel, L.A. Confidential, and am a third of the way through Ron Carlson's beautifully written coming-of-age novel, The Speed of Light.

But that's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that I love the physical object that we call a book. Cover, spine, text block, etc. I get excited by the material object as much as I do by its contents - sometimes more so. I can wander a Barnes and Noble, happily, for hours just to look at covers and hold books in my hands to feel the paper stock, the embossing on the cover, see the font the designer chose, and so on. I don't just love books for the stories or poetry or information they contain. I love them because of their physical, tactile properties.

This is why I will never be fully on board with e-readers. They're amazing pieces of technology, and they make the reading experience more portable, more convenient, and all of that. They're great. But I will probably always think of them the way I think of hard candy (as opposed to real candy like chocolate) - it's not as good as the real thing but will do until I can get my hands on something better and more enjoyable.

This affection is also why I love thrift stores. We regularly go to Goodwill, Lilly Pads, Second Time Around, DI, and any others that we come across in our travels. Suzy, ever practical, scours the racks for clothes and shoes that are nice looking and in good enough shape for the girls to wear. (Today's haul: two pair of shorts for Avery.) Parker rifles through the toys and always manages to come up with something she recognizes. (Today's haul: a Po the Panda figurine from Kung Fu Panda and a Barry B. Benson figurine from Bee Movie.) I am drawn to the book section like Odysseus to the Sirens.

Of course, so much of what is there is not stuff that interests me: self-help books (although Suzy might argue I should spend more time in that section), Dean Koonz novels, textbooks from the 90s, and stuff like that. However, tucked right next to that Barbara Delinsky novel or born-again Christian guide to marriage is some gem that I never knew I needed but now can't live without.

Today's haul: Mysteries of the Ancient Americas - a big coffee table book with lots of full color pictures of Machu Pichu, Mississippian mounds, petroglyphs, Olmec heads, and stellae. I've always loved the possibility that ancient ruins and artifacts might somehow link to the Book of Mormon, so I was tempted. The fact that there is a cool Aztec design embossed in gold on the cover under the dust jacket sealed it for me.

I also picked up Bill Peet: An Autobiography, a nice looking hardbound version of Peet's illustrated life story. Peet, besides working for Disney on projects like Sleeping Beauty, is the author of Chester the Worldly Pig, a family favorite of ours from way back. I love how he combines his loose, sketchy illustrations with his simply told story, and I intend to use it as an example of something my creative writing students might attempt as a semester project.

Best of all is The Wonderland of Tomorrow from 1961. This little beauty was aimed at YA readers of the day and features the coolest old school illustrations you imagine. It's this kind of hilarious non-fiction explanation of what the future might bring. Highlights include:

  

Pretty awesome, right? My favorite is the last one. If disposable dinnerware is the future, we are the freaking Jetsons.

Anyway, the real beauty of thrift stores? These three items together cost 2.25. Three lovely, hardbound books for less than you would pay for a Happy Meal. I love that. I have these fantastic little artifacts and everything they contain, and they cost practically nothing. 

Anyway, of course, I love to read. But the additional thrill for me is the book itself. Ten years from now, they may be quaint. Sitting on your porch reading a book may come to be seen as something pretentious and obnoxious like insisting on using a typewriter after the advent of personal computers or eschewing mp3s because you only listen to vinyl. Books as objects may become more of a collectors' item and a curiosity than anything else. But I don't care. They're too cool, too compelling, and too tactile to ever give up.