You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. – C. S. Lewis

There are few activities I enjoy more than curling up with a good book. I’m always reading something—or, perhaps I should say, there’s always a book in my life—even if I only get to turn a few pages before falling asleep at night. I have been a bookworm for as long as I can remember. 

With this post, I’d like to celebrate books and the ritual of reading. Indeed, every step in the process—from selecting a book to preparing my favorite reading nook—is highly ritualized. And those rituals are, for me, just as important as the books themselves. 

Old vs. New

The choice between old and new volumes is often a challenging one. It’s also my favorite part of the process. I love that old books look and feel as if they have history, as if the volumes themselves transport me to another time and place. I also love vintage cover art, the yellowing of the pages, and, of course, the smell. 

But new books, too, are delightful in their own way. I love the feel of a smooth, unbroken binding, the freshness of the pages, and new book smell, which is every bit as pleasant as that of an old book. 

I’m not certain my criteria for choosing between the two is at all logical. In fact, it seems to me to be a far more intuitive endeavor. There are some nonfiction books on my shelf that are waiting to be read on the subjects of ancient Roman history and World War II. Those volumes are new. War and Peace is also new. But every single Agatha Christie volume I own is old. 

Indeed, among my most prized possessions are a few first and second edition hard cover Agatha Christie novels that I picked up in London several years ago. I don’t handle those. (I merely gaze at them lovingly.) But even my readable editions, which I usually purchase from Abe Books or Thrift Books, are vintage. I select them according to the cover art and publication year. My Christie collection is large and carefully curated—and one in which I take pride.

Fiction vs. Nonfiction 

I am nearly always reading one fiction and one nonfiction book at the same time. While this approach isn’t exactly expedient, I find that it satisfies both my desire to learn and to get lost in a good story. 

There is also, I think, something intrinsically rewarding about codifying one’s interests in a book or collection of books. Indeed, it’s one thing to research an interest on the internet, and it’s another to explore it in a book. I find that those interests on which I read extensively, like psychology, feel somehow more tangible, more real, more part of me because of my sizable book collection. (Almost all of those volumes are old, by the way. It just feels right.) 

Indeed, I view all of the books I read—at least the good ones—as being part of me. It only seems right that my book collection should expand, and sometimes even be culled, according to my interests. 

Preparing the Space

Reading is a ritual of the highest order and one that requires adequate preparation of my reading space. A cup of tea or coffee is required. Which beverage I choose almost always depends on the time of day: coffee in the morning and tea or tisane in the afternoon and evening. As my home office/art studio also often doubles as a reading nook, I ensure that all art materials are cleaned up and any clutter removed. I then select background music—this is crucial for setting the mood. Soft jazz and classical music are usually preferable. 

On a cold day, especially a cold rainy day, I prefer to cozy up with a book in front of the fireplace. In spring and summer, I love to sit outside in the sun—although, that means doing battle with the mosquitoes, in which case bug spray is required.