My Brush with Love
What I love most about used bookstores is the feel of the paper in my hands. I love scanning it’s delicate pages for the history of the book; who owned it, who marked it, or if someone wore out a certain part (like the romantic section in a poetry book). The books I like the most don’t have a heavy price tag because they are worn and the spine is broken or missing. There is no spotlight on them. Each book tells two stories. I once found a poetry book that was gifted to a youth for being top in her class in grammar. The dedication was in beautiful well-practiced cursive writing that is lost to my generation. It was dated the same day as my birthday, except 86 years earlier. The whole thing just tickled me somehow.