Meager living creates a particular kind of reading continuum. Books present themselves to me with an element of synchronicity attached – at second hand book shops, at the Goodwill or Salvation Army, from friends, or in a pile at the end of someone’s lawn. Reading becomes like Gump’s box of chocolates.
I’ve started borrowing from the library again. It’s been a while. I go there every week with my little charge but hadn’t thought to take books out for myself – silly me! I felt saavy using their electronic catalogue to find Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (excellent). In Kanata, where I grew up, the first library was in a portable. Sometimes you had to wait to get in because it was so small. My mum volunteered at the Kanata and Carp Pulic Libraries for years. She borrows, orders, reserves, and reads stacks of books every week.