I am not an impulse shopper. Why? It is no great statement about my self-control. No, to be an impulse shopper you have to—wait for it, wait for it—shop. Shopping for fun sounds like having a root canal out for fun. It may be necessary, but that doesn’t make it fun.
I do, however, have a weakness.
Book stores! This weekend I started recent impulse buy When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II
This is the joy of impulse book buying, a door opens you never even knew existed and you get to go through it.
I’ve only just started it, so can’t give a full report. But in essence, Hitler thought, if you control ideas, you can control people. And he was right to a point. In France, he had radio campaigns before he attacked France and had them in an emotionally weakened state. He also created the EER and in “Eastern Europe the EER burned a staggering 375 archives, 402 museums, 531 institutes,and 957 libraries. It is estimated that the Nazis destroyed half of all books in Czechoslovakia and Poland, and fifty-five million tomes in Russia.”
What?!
The numbers are so staggering it is hard to wrap my head about it. I’m early in the book and the librarians are mobilized but people are donating stupid books. What solider wants to read about knitting? Or cutting edge theology of 1870.
The ability to read is a privilege I overlook basically all the time. The ability to read what I want is a privilege I overlook basically all the time. The power of ideas to educate and infuse hope is too often underestimated by me too.
In light of this, as I sat down today to draw winners from The Summer Reading Challenge, I decided that while not in the millions, the 64 books we collectively read matter. We read 64 books in 10 weeks. People, high five to us!!
We are all winners. So, if you entered, check your inbox and later today you will have a $10 Amazon gift card.
Take that Hitler. You may burn and ban books, but you can’t break our spirit. Tomorrow would be my dad’s 77th birthday. Since I no longer have the joy of getting him a present, I’m using the money I would have spent on his present to help those who entered buy more books. Happy Book Day to You!
To all, if you had $10 to spend, what book have you been wanting to get your hands on?
I impulsively buy books, too. My reading list (of books I own on Kindle or can check out at the digital library) tops 350. The Kindle has definitely saved me from book withdrawal. There’s no way I could have put 350 books in my luggage.
I love reading about history, and now I’ve added this one to my list. $2.99 on Kindle! I need to stop buying books and read what I have. At least I never run out of things to read. :)
This is a great reminder and example of our precious freedom as American citizens… AND I had just ordered a book from Amazon just prior to reading your post! ;)
Thanks for the gift card! I just bought another book by one of my favorite fantasy authors, Juliet Marillier. I also spent an hour browsing on Amazon, looking at lots of things that I wish I had time to read. I agree with you about shopping–book shopping is the only kind that I like! It’s not the same on Amazon, but that’s my best option when I’m here in Ghana. I love spending hours in bookstores just savoring the possibilities behind all the covers. It definitely is such an amazing privilege to be able to read!
I had a growing list of books I wanted to read on a “sticky note”on my desktop. Somehow they all disappeared….poof…..gone. I love reading.
I loved the idea of buying yourself a gift on your Dad’s birthday. My dad died two years ago and he read voraciously and taught me to love it too. His birthday is coing up. I think I’ll buy a book or two. He would approve.
Thank you for the gift card!