An Ode to Books & Bookstores (in pictures.)

I actually tried to write a poem, but these skills escape me. So instead i will use images to convey the beauty that is books, and bookstores.
{{I wish I could be a wandering gypsy. Travel in a caravan with my love and all our books. We would live off our wages: he would fix or build things for people using his amazing engineering brain, and I would make jewelry and headbands and pretty things to sell to people. We could trade books with people we met along the way, spreading knowledge and a love of literature everywhere we went. And we would see the world. The caravan could also be traded for a river boat so we could live in the Seine or the Rhine. What a beautiful and simple life.}}
The above picture is from my favorite bookstore on earth: Shakespeare & Company in Paris. I took classes at La Sorbonne literally right around the corner, but somehow missed this gem until about a week before I was leaving. They have a little bed upstairs (pictured below) where they, as I understand it, let writers stay. When I was there I sat on the bed and leafed through an old kipling book with a charmingly chubby cat sitting next to me. I actually have a book "Time Was Soft There" by one of the authors who did that, about his time there. It's in my "to read" pile. But this place is tiny, and crammed with books, and just FEELS like home to a bibliophile like myself.

This is the first thing you encounter upon entering Shakespeare & Co. Isn't it beautiful! BOOKS, EVERYWHERE!

The above picture is like my dream room. But maybe with a king sized bed. But I love all the natural light and the books everywhere! This image and the next 3 are all from weheartit.

The above picture is the Livrario Lello, in Portugal. Isn't it beautiful! It begs quiet and probably smells like wood polish and books. I want to go there.

The Black Spot Books (etsy)

Beautiful abandoned library house. This image and the one following are from weheartit.

Reading is such a beautiful thing. I love getting lost in words and worlds. So far I've read a book every week of the new year. I finished Lolita on January 5 (see previous post), and I just finished The Lovely Bones yesterday afternoon (January 11). Don't worry a post will be coming up on that one too. Now I'm diving head-first into Reading Lolita In Tehran (the whole reason I picked up Lolita in the first place). I also have a Border's date with Dot tomorrow, so that may yield yet another book to add to the growing stack of "to read" books.