What? You don’t think book marks have stories to tell? Think again. Over the years at the library, we have seen so many book marks or objects used as book marks that we can get a pretty good idea of the habits of the book mark user. Book marks (that we have found at our library, tucked within the pages of a book) range from ornately designed pieces of art to dental floss to used tissues (and everything in between). Yes, you read that right. We, library workers, wash our hands more frequently than perhaps you do so one of the most popular gifts that we give to each other is hand lotion to show some love to our rough, red. well washed and well sanitized hands. I am telling you, library work is not for the faint of heart 🙂 .
A friend gave me a hand embroidered book mark. She is a whiz at embroidery and anything she creates is beautiful. As I held the book mark in my hand, I decided this one will only go into books that I will love and cherish. I live in a world of books. I touch books through out my work day. I bring home an inordinate number of books too. So much so that I fear I have a problem of hoarding. Fortunately, I am also very conscientious so I never keep the books beyond their due date and diligently return them on time. As you can imagine, many of those books get returned unread. There are only finite number of waking hours and within those hours, I must work, eat, be present with family, do some mindless phone surfing and read. At this ripe old age, I have realized that life is too short to continue to read books that don’t hold my interest. I start a lot of books, read about 50 pages and then abandon them if they don’t keep me engaged. My beautiful book mark never goes into those abandoned books. I only use that particular book mark for books that I know I will finish. You can say, my piece of art book mark is my love language to the books that capture my heart. Authors have to earn that book mark in their books. Here is a short list of books that have earned this honor:
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
Finally Seen by Kelly Yang
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Rough Sleepers by Tacy Kidder
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
Not Quite Not White: Losing and Finding Race in America by Sharmila Sen
I find this book mark to be a perfect gift. My beautiful friend and colleague who embroidered it by hand knows my love for books. And her gift of love nestles within the pages where I lose myself and find myself too. This is one of those gifts, along with her love, that keeps on giving.
What is your idea of a perfect gift?
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