Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving

Here in the United States we’re coming up on Thanksgiving weekend, a long weekend for everyone, and for that alone we should all give thanks. However, instead I wanted to give thanks to something that’s near and dear to all of our hearts. Books.

Because of books I have been able to explore worlds and lives I never imagined existed. I have been able to travel through wardrobes, I survived the Civil War, grieved the loss of “my sister” Beth, and solved murders armed with only Forensics for Dummies. I have fallen in love with vampires, werewolves, lords, dukes, a Griffin, a hockey player, and yes, just a normal, everyday, handsome man with an attitude problem.

I’ve been able to learn things and change the way I do things. I’ve studied business books and parenting books, wedding books and health books. I’ve scoured books for advice and new ways of thinking and learned about the world from a perspective I don’t get on a daily basis.

So today I salute all books, those I read as a child and those that can still take me to new places today. And of course, I thank all of the writers who continue to bring me something new and fresh and introduce me to worlds that have been nothing but pure joy.

This weekend I’m hoping to spend time with my friends and family and yes, I think I’m going to find a book to share the holiday with.

A Happy Thanksgiving to all. Our offices are closed for the weekend, but we’ll be back on Monday.

Jessica

24 comments:

Rick Daley said...

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Author Guy said...

I would also say thanks to the authors, for making those books.

Stina said...

Yay for books (especially the YA kind)! Have a great Thanksgiving!

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving to Jacky, Jessica, Kim and your families!

Joyce Tremel said...

I'm mostly a lurker here, but one of the things I'm thankful for is this blog.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Susan at Stony River said...

What a perfectly splendid post. Hurray for books! I can't imagine life without them.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Mira said...

Huzzah! Yea for books! Thanks, Jessica!

Me too, I'm very grateful for books. Can't imagine how I'd get through this world without them.

To all the storytellers and the people who bring their books to us - thanks!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Linda Banche said...

Yes, hooray for books, in whatever form you read them. Happy Thanksgiving.

Kate Douglas said...

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at BookEnds. I'm off to shop and hopefully to find time to read before the family arrives. Like you, my world has been enriched and expanded by books. I can't imagine a life without reading.

Be safe, everyone!

Rebecca Knight said...

This made me smile :). It's wonderful, too, that books can bring people together through shared experiences.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!

Stephanie Damore said...

Life without books would be too sad to contemplate.

Hurray for books and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Spy Scribbler said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Jessica, Jacky, and Kim! I hope it's a fun and safe one!ad

Robena Grant said...

Friday is my book buying day for the holidays, and I give thanks that my favorite book store is still in existence.

To all at BookEnds, Happy Thanksgiving.

Anonymous said...

I read Little Women so recently that reference almost made me cry. I agree! Thanks for books! Happy Thanksgiving!

Madeline said...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I am so thankful for books, I plan on buying a lot to give as gifts for the holidays. I may - okay, I will - buy a couple for myself as well. :)

Dogs for sale said...

Great Thanksgiving!

Jemi Fraser said...

Enjoy your Thanksgiving! Love the post :)

Jeff King said...

A Happy Thanksgiving to all.

dolorah said...

Books are my favorite friends.

Have a great thanksgiving.

........dhole

Ellen Brickley said...

Thanks for this post.

A wonderful Thanksgiving to all at Bookends :)

AM said...

Thank you all for hosting a terrific blog.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sandra Cormier said...

Hope you had a stress-free day! I dragged home two more books to read -- it never stops.

BTW, which hockey player?

Bernita said...

Your post reminds me of this poem:

Words

How I love the mere words, the picturesque and dear words,
Romany and Patteran and Caravan and Chal-
How they lilt and sing to me; flame-lit, how they bring to me
Heathered moors and bending skies and gypsy carnival.

The sun-swept and the wild words I dreamed of as a child, words
Like Lariat and Chaparral, Coyote, Pinto, Sage;
How they flung a dare to me of life without a care to me;
How the flying hoofbeats rang across the printed page!

The lanthorn-lit, the old words, the scarlet and the gold words,
Palfrey, Jerkin, Yeoman, Falcon, Glebe and Glade;
Minstrel, Lance, and Tourney - what an age-long journey
Through the posterns of the Past, alone and half-afraid.

The wind blown and the sea words, the lawless and the free words,
Spindrift, Doubloon, Cutlass, Jib, Corsair, Yardarm Crew;
Whispering wild tales to me - ah, how each unveils to me
Palm-fringed islands rising green against the ocean blue.

The balsam-scented North, words that call untamed hearts forth, words
Like Wanigan, and Mackinaw, Duffle, Tumpline, Trail;
While the languid South to me turns a lover-mouth to me
Jasmine-scented, passion flowered, by the Bayou pale.

Some may live their fair dreams, costly, jewelled, rare dreams;
Some may rove the luring world as free as homing birds;
But still I'll find my all for me, close-waiting at my call for me,
In my printed palaces, bright-tapestried with words.

-Martha Haskell Clarke.

LivelyClamor said...

Love the poem.
I was scrolling down to it thinking of Walt Whitman:
"There was a child went forth every day/
And the first object he look'd upon, that object he became;"

That's the effect books have always had on me, too...