Monday Coffee Klatch: To All the Books I've Loved Before

Just for variety, I want to introduce you to a coffee shop I don't love. This place is a back-up coffee shop for me. The coffee is ... okay. Croissants are good. Apparently, their specialty is churros, which I haven't yet tried. 

On the plus side, they have comfy seating and a super-convenient location if I was going to meet someone. 

But really, I only come here when I've walked down to my favorite place only to find that it is closed for some random reason, which, as a mom and pop shop, is a respectable choice even if a little inconvenient for me sometimes. This place is around the corner and a few doors down, so I haven't wasted my walk.

Less cute view, wimpier coffee, but comfy.

Now, regarding The Books That Got Away!

I've complained before about losing books due to moving overseas. It's one of those critical, difficult decisions. They're heavy, they take up space, and with internet access, it's hard to convince yourself the physical book is critical.

In years past, I've given away a LOT of books.

Sometimes I tried to make sure they went to someone who would really appreciate them. If I had a whole collection by an author, I'd post online: Does anybody love this author? I've got the complete set and I'd be happy to send it to you! Because if someone loves the books, I'd much rather see them go to a good home than break up the set.

I've also donated plenty to thrift stores, and later to the library where my sister worked.

And honestly, I'm glad most of those books found new homes.

But every now and then, I wish I still had certain ones.

The recent culprit is Gregory Maguire. After watching Wicked and Wicked: For Good, I found myself wishing I still had my collection of his books. I'd read all of them at least once, and they're wonderfully written, although VERY different from the light, funny version presented in the stage musical. Maguire's version of Wicked is dark.

Those I could replace fairly easily, since I could get them electronically and put them on my Kindle.

I also had a biography of Alec Guinness that I'd ordered through a book club. I never actually got around to reading it before I gave it away. Now, every time I watch a movie with Alec Guinness in it, I think, I wish I still had that book.

I know I could replace that one, too.

But then there are the books I can't really replace.

I once had a hardcover edition of Beowulf, with a new English translation on one page and the original Old English on the facing page. I think it was published sometime in the 1990s. I love multi-language books. (I have several English+Chinese ones now, and used to have a copy of Faust in English+German.) I think the dual language gives me hope that I'll up my linguistic game.

But for me the biggest loss is my original Star Wars trilogy written as Shakespeare plays. My sister gave me one of these lovely hardcover books for Christmas or my birthday three years in a row. They were beautifully illustrated, and the language was part of the fun. (Sci-fi iambic pentameter except Yoda, whose lines were written in haiku.😄) I could probably find electronic versions somewhere, but I don't think I'd enjoy them nearly as much that way. 

Because sometimes it's not just the book you miss.

It's that book.

The particular edition. The illustrations. The feel of it. The memory of where it came from.

The hard fact is that when you have to reduce your possessions to what is genuinely practical, you sometimes end up giving away things that weren't practical, but were precious.

Have you lost a favorite book to time or location or circumstance? What do you miss about it?