My Love for Books

When my friends and I went to Portland, we had a lot of things we wanted to do. See the Rose Gardens, Japanese Tea Gardens, hike and rent bikes and explore Forest Park, go wine tasting in wine country, check out some local brewery’s (including the all organic beer distilled by Hopworks), spend time with friends, go window shopping (and actual shopping) in the Pearl District and NW 23rd Street corridor, get massage treatments, have brunch, eat cupcakes…oh and the list goes on and on. Although we only got through about half the list (ok, maybe 1/3), one thing we did do, was go to Powell’s Bookstore.

It claims to be the largest independent bookstore in the world, and it is an amazing place. My friends Tarlan, Siobhan and I decided we could get sucked in and spend all day there, so we almost purposely didn’t give ourselves a ton of time. We walked in, looked at the clock and decided to spread out, and meet back in an hour.

It was the fastest hour that has ever passed. I explored a few of the rooms…the Rose Room, the Orange Room, and on and on. (My favorite section was the Cooking/Food section…you knew I’d hit that up, right?)

My love for books started when I was young. I remember being a toddler and flipping through my mom’s collection of Chinese novels. I also remember taking trips to the public library with my mom and sister, and how we’d pour into the books and bring stacks and stacks of them home and have them all over the living room floor. Even one of the first places I learned to drive to was the public library. It was always something our entire family appreciated and had a love for. We’d all go to the library and immediately go to our own sections and areas of the library. I felt like I was a world away.

Even now. I can’t throw away books, or even give them away when I’m done. I am all for sharing and lending books to friends, but then I want them back. And I love and cherish my book collection. Thanks mom for giving me this appreciation for books and the written word.

Mom in her early 20's, organizing her books in her apartment