Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Don't stop.

     I've been meaning to post for weeks, but always find an excuse not to.  After much contemplating, hair-pulling, and general hemming and hawing, I've come to one very simple conclusion:  I'm so afraid to post the wrong thing that I end up not posting at all.  All truly 'great bloggers' are witty and insightful, qualities that I don't have.  I would like to make this about life in general and not just books, but have had no clue where to start.  I decided today to start with something other than me, so here goes nothing...

     My boyfriend has been acting very strangely lately.  And I don't mean in a sitcom-y covering-something-up sort of way.  I mean very sudden, complete 180 sort of change. 

     It began about a month before Christmas when I asked what he would like for the holidays.  I got typical answers-- CDs, movies, miscellaneous items.  I was listening, nodding, making mental notes.  And then he said "There's this book I really want, too." 

     I felt my eyeballs pop out of my head, slime down my cheeks, and plop onto the floor.  Allow me to explain this gross and unrealistic reaction:

     He is readily the first to admit that, until about 6 months ago, he'd never finished a book in his entire life.  He has never understood my obsessive love for the hundreds of tomes that take up shelves upon shelves in the corner of the bedroom, just a bit to left of one of his prized televisions.  I suspect he secretly finds it a bit silly.  So for someone with such a lack of history with the glorious act of reading is like someone who hates science asking for a microscope.  For years he has resisted my schemes to get his nose in the pages.

     But it didn't stop there; another week or two went by, and he requested another book!  Two books?!  That's twice as many as he'd ever read!  He really wanted two books?  It seemed crazy to me, but that's what he wanted so that's what he got.  He also seemed interested in yet another while we were out one day, so I got it for him on audio.  (He drives quite a bit so I thought it would give him something interesting to listen to during the long hours.) 

     It doesn't even stop there.

     His birthday is a mere 5 weeks after Christmas, so I usually start scrambling for other gift ideas soon after.  He's mentioned a few things here and there, asked specifically for a couple CDs, and... another book?!?!  Yes.  That book came in the mail yesterday.  The day before I was browsing a bookstore with a friend and text the boyfriend to ask if there was anything else he wanted.  He requested (wait for it...) another book.  And another.  One I couldn't find, but the other was in my hands once an employee pointed me in the right direction.

     I wrapped all his gifts today (excluding one that is still in transit), and the big day is next week.  I'm excited to see the genuine joy when he unwraps the heavy, bound pages.  He'll have a nice little stack going, and though it make take him as long as it'll take me to get through the 60+ waiting for me, it's worth sitting next to him and seeing him engrossed in something that an infinite number of people have been doing for thousands and thousands of years.

     Did I mention that he recently finished reading a novel for school?  In a relatively short time, too, and he seems pretty proud of himself.  I hope it doesn't stop there.