Books Never Go Out of Style

Never wait until the last minute. That’s my mantra. I am a planner, an obsessive planner making reservations and creating menus months in advance of events.

Six weeks before any of our grandchildren’s birthdays or before Christmas and Chanukah, I start sending increasingly more urgent texts to their parents – “What do they want for a gift?” When I don’t get answers right away, I threaten to send puppies. That usually works. However, my kids have their own perspective on my early bird gift buying schemes.

The boy who couldn’t be torn away from his Minecraft games in November has moved on to Pokemon by Christmas. The little girl who had to wear ribbons, barrettes and headbands all together now wants her own monkey bars. They are always on to new things – new passions. So, gifts bought too far in advance don’t have the magic they had a few months prior.

This really butts up against my mantra. I want to be prepared. They want to try new adventures, play with new games as their worlds expand, join the clubs their friends join. How in the world can I reconcile these two opposing forces?

The obvious answer is right in front of us – books! Books can be adventurous. They can be encyclopedias of all the creatures in some fantastic world. They can be crafty. They can be scary. They can be rhymes. They can teach. They can make you laugh. Books are perfect because you can read (or hear) them over and over, even years after they’re new on your shelf.

I reread Pride and Prejudice and East of Eden every few years. I never tire of Edith Wharton or Larry McMurtry. These books are all so different. And yet, they still hold my attention, my wishes, my relationships with the characters. My grandchildren’s passions will, should, change.. But the books they save and reread will always bring them back to the things they once loved above all else.

Buy books. Read books. Books never go out of style.