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     You know those movies where people have studies or home libraries with floor to ceiling bookshelves filled with all kinds of old books?  The ones where someone is trying to piece together a mystery and they turn to some dusty old book on their shelves and find the missing piece of the puzzle?  Or the kinds where the books are actually levers to secret passage ways or hollowed out to conceal some important heirloom.  Well, it’s always been my dream to have a room like that.  A room where I am surrounded by hundreds of books that I can say, yes, I’ve read them all!

Photo Credit: super (http://mrg.bz/RM6dmN)

     When I moved last year, one of the biggest perks of my new apartment was an office space lined with built-in book shelves!  The first thing I unpacked was my collection of books and yet, the shelves were still fairly bare.  In this electronic age, I had already started making the shift towards ebooks and no longer purchase paperbacks unless they are part of a series that I already own.  Not to mention that of the many paperbacks I own, only a handful are classics, none are signed/special editions and many are beat up due to wear and tear.  Not exactly the kind of library I envisioned.

    So my goal this past year has been to build my library and fill my shelves.  Barnes and Nobles’ leather bound books were exactly the kind of books I was looking for, but with two kids, bills to pay and still trying to put $ away in savings, I didn’t have the funds to blow in order to fulfill this dream.  Over the course of a year and thanks to gift cards received, I’ve bought myself three and each time, I was so happy to see them take their places on the shelf.

     Yesterday morning, for Christmas, I got four new books to add to my collection!  I get excited about the most random stuff, but yeah you can say I had a great Christmas!  I hope that everyone was blessed to have a happy and healthy Holiday and may you have a joyous New Year!