Monday, April 11, 2005

Books That Get Used

One of the Beehive5 clan asked what we thought the three best books in the English language are. I like her choices, but just to be different I'll vote for Pilgrim's Progress, Mrs. Tittlemouse, and I can't decide on a third.

But it did make me think about a similar question. What books get cracked open the most in your house, over and over, whether you homesquirrel or not? Yesterday I was working on some Plutarch homework (an ongoing Mamasquirrel project) and as I grabbed my big hardcover dictionary for about the 20th time, I mentally thanked my own mama and dad squirrel who bought it for me during squirrely-versity days many years ago. For some people maybe a dictionary just sits on the shelf, but mine gets used a lot.

I also wouldn't want to do without our Philips World History Encyclopedia (saves a lot of Internet search time!) and our collection of yard-sale atlases...and an all-in-one-volume of Shakespeare (we never have to worry about which play is coming up next term at Ambleside)...and a hymn book. And, mamasquirrel is a little embarrassed to admit it, but one of those movie/video guides that tells you whether what's on tonight is a winner or a turkey.

They may not be the best-written books in English, but they do get used.

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