13.1.11

Recommendations #1

Okay, so I'm a librarian. It probably comes as no surprise when I say that sometimes books are my best friends. I'm really in this profession because I love people & communities & helping. You really do have to be a people person to be a successful librarian these days. But yeah, books are a big part of the job. And it just so happens that I love books a lot too.

Right now I'm trying to stick to books that aren't too complicated & won't have me crying every other page. As much as I love the historical fiction, or memoir, that takes a terrible event and makes it even more alive, I just don't want to spend my nights crying over war-torn countries & terrible childhoods. I need books that are fresh & just light enough that they make me feel contemplative but not depressed.

I could write words upon words about my favorite books & I could book talk a great tale to you. I could have you picking up a book that is not in your usual repertoire in second. I'm a librarian, that's what we do, and I happen to think I do that part pretty damn well.

But all I really want to say today is that The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan is a must-read for all of us who have fallen in love, out of love, are in love or are out of love. His tale of a relationship told in little snippets and an alphabetical vocabulary list is perfection. I am not yet halfway through the book yet, but it is all of my emotions (past & present) in written word & stories. There are so many spots that I want to highlight & repeat. It has me understanding my own past & looking towards my own future with such courage & excitement. I want to bottle how it is making me feel so that I can open it up & experience it all over again when the book is over.

And today, during my lunch, when I sat down to read & eat. The song Gonna Get Over You by Sara Bareilles popped on Pandora. Again, perfection. A peppy, upbeat song about getting over the person you loved but who must have been the wrong one. It's exactly how I feel. I'm not depressed, I'm not lost, I can do it.

Ever since I moved back from Greece I have always look at each day as an opportunity to gather stories to tell. I really feel that almost anything is worth doing if you can walk away with a story.

Maybe it is because I am a librarian, but I tend to view my life as a series of short stories in a large anthology. And it has been hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that a very moving & important story has concluded. It's time for new stories, new characters & new adventures. 2011 is so brand new! It could have so many beginnings & endings. I get nervous/bittersweet/energized just thinking about it.

I live my life surrounded by words. And though I can think of many books & songs that are perfect representations of falling in love, friendship, seasons, traveling, Greece & so & so on. It is rare that I stumble upon a perfect fit when I need it the most. Usually we read something that reminds us of a person, place, or thing. But I'm living in the now & I couldn't be smiling more over these two finds & the someday & someone that will charge it all up.

David Levithan writes in A Lover's Dictionary about falling in love: "And if the moment does pass, it never goes that far. It stands in the distance, ready for whenever you want it back."

And my dears, how hopeful is that.

What things match your life?

2 comments:

  1. Must get this book ASAP! Thanks, Shan.

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  2. Hey Shannon, two songs you have to listen to, both by Jamie Cullum: Mind Trick, and I'm All Over It. And yea, I followed your advice on Facebook and read your blog. You're an awesome librarian, you should put that in the title. :)

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