Even More Festival

Coming home and spreading my treasures out on the bed to fawn over is just as enjoyable as the buying of them. I pick up each book, let my hands slide over the dust jacket, read the back cover blurbs, read the inside flaps, read the inscription on the title page written thoughtfully by the author. I let the book fall open where it may, lift it to my nose and inhale. A-h-h-h. The aroma resulting from the care and labor of a bookmaker enters my body and seeps into my deepest core. There’s nothing else like it in my world.

With each book that’s been signed, I’ll carry the image of the author’s expression when she (or he) lifts her pen to write a brief note in her creation. There’s deep satisfaction at that moment. It’s like giving birth and holding the baby after the pain subsides.

It’s personal.