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Book Lust

Book Lust

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“Where is human nature as weak as in a bookstore?” — Henry Ward Beecher

The Friends of the Reston Library Used Book Sale is not for the faint of heart. I stumbled upon it this weekend and found myself on my knees sorting through books of essays as another woman (also on her knees) pulled them almost out of my hands.
I don’t buy many books these days. My house is full of them already. But the Reston Used Book Sale is a notable exception. Hardbacks for $1.50 and paperbacks for as little as 50 cents. How could I resist Rural Hours (1850) by Susan Fenimore Cooper (daughter of James), billed as one of the earliest pieces of American nature writing and the first by a woman? Or The Footpaths of Britain, complete with marginalia from a previous owner? Or Book Lust — a telling choice, given the quietly intent crowd at the book sale. Book lust. That’s what it is. That’s why I was at the book sale. It’s why all of us were there.

The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project

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I’ve just finished reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, a book I heard about a couple years ago when I interviewed the author for a Woman’s Day story. Before the Happiness Project book, there was (and still is) a Happiness Project blog. It’s chock full of tips both practical and philosophical and I highly recommend it and the book.

As for my own “happiness project,” this blog is part of it. A New Year’s resolution come true (unlike the earnest but vague “worry less” sort of resolution I usually make) this one is forcing me out of my comfort zone. The sneaky truth about this resolution, and an underlying premise of Rubin’s book, is that happiness takes work. It requires speaking up and shutting up, list making and list shredding, risk-taking and even failure. But it’s all worth it. It is joyful toil.