The folks at Invaluable.com have asked me to post about my dream literary collection. This isn’t something difficult to do as you can imagine. As an avid reader and collector of books (remind me one of these days to share more pictures of my bookshelves with you), I am always looking to add more of my favourites to my ever growing collections.
You may not know this about me, but one thing I always look for when walking into a used bookstore or checking out book auctions, are copies of F. Scott Fitzegerald’s The Great Gatsby. While I only have a few copies, I try to scoop up those copies when I do see them. I read this story for the first time as part of a literature class in high school, and I’ve read it countless times since then. It’s the one story that I have to have in every way, shape and form. That’s why I’m particularly excited to see a copy of Gatsby up for auction on Invaluable.com‘s site.
I remember when I was a child, my mother used to sing to me from a paperback copy of Mother Goose nursery rhymes. She still has that well-worn copy on her shelves somewhere, and I can’t wait to be able to share those songs with my own children one day. I’ve purchased other worn copies of Mother Goose nursery rhymes from garage sales and vintage stores, but I really love this one.
One of the current prizes in my collection is a group of 30 or so leather bound classics. They were given to me as a gift and I am forever searching to find others to help complete the set. These books remind me of an aged study with a warm, roaring fire, the sweet smell of old book pages, and shelves piled high with stories. I would love to complete my set with books by Herman Melville, Charlotte Bronte. Dostoyevsky, and Walt Whitman.
I could continue blabbing about so many other volumes that I’d love to have displayed on my shelves, but these are a great start. This is an ever growing list, and I’m certain it’ll never be complete. I’m dreaming now of my future home library and how absolutely blissful that will be.
Worn Pages and Ink 