@joyces

We have such interesting people here on the Mayo forum and you are definitely one of them. I have listed A Wolf Called Romeo as my next read. It reminds me of Gorillas In the Mist. I like stories about interspecies relationships. But, as the life of Timothy Treadwell shows, other species will generally revert to their natural born instincts and not all of these interspecies relationships end on a happy note. That also applies to some domesticated animals so reasonable safety precautions are a must.

I have had to give away books simply because I ran out of room. When I lived in Long Island , we had bookcases full in several rooms besides my husbands scientific journals and books. I donated his to a local college when he passed away.

Now that I live in such a smaller house and I find books starting to pile up on the floor ((I use that look as a decor statement lol),
I have to pass on or donate. I have bought far too many at our library’s book sale…how could you not?. Especially if you can fill a bag for a couple of dollars.

I don’t think libraries will ever go out of existence as there are so many activities going on in them. I am happy to see so many people who do read (although many of them are older) and there are so many many books on the “hold” shelf.

My children always liked to read and still do to this day. My grandchildren don’t and I remember how torturous if was for my granddaughter to “get through” assigned books in school. I used to read with her and so many of her books were really really boring I wasn’t surprised that she got turned off. The other grandkids, despite their aversion to reading (and they are all young adults) did emerge into adulthood with excellent writing skills and a “way with words” My son and daughter and one of my grandsons are so eloquent in their social media postings so something right happened along the way.

One thing I still do and always insisted my kids and grandkids do is to look up an unfamiliar word even if you can get the meaning from the sentence. I forget sometimes what a particular word means and still look it up…now I can just goggle it lol.

Here’s to books and civilization!

FL Mary