Good Books Come to Those Who Wait

I like to treat my bedroom like a library - when I need something to read, I hop up on a stool and scan the shelves, pick out a few prospects, read the first few pages - but most importantly I rely on the feeling that the books give me. I firmly believe that there's a place and a time for every book, and, more than that, a book perfect for every occasion and every new stage in a person's life.

You just have to wait.

Yesterday I started reading The Time Traveler's Wife, a book that's been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years now. And I love it. I absolutely love it. But I can remember a year or so ago when I picked it up, read a few lines, and put it back. Because I wasn't ready for it and it wasn't ready for me.

Books are like boyfriends. If you're right together, things will just jive - but if you try to force anything, you'll both end up hurt. That's an awkward analogy in many respects. For one thing, when's the last time you left your boyfriend in the car and forgot about him for weeks on end? Or borrowed your boyfriend from a friend only to give him back in a few weeks after trying your best to make it work, but not feeling the same kind of love that she did? Or, when's the last time you and your friends all had the same boyfriend for a month or so, and met up in a coffee shop to share your thoughts about him over sweet tea and comfy chairs?

Don't answer that.

A good book is always worth the wait. If you try to rush things, you won't be ready for all the wisdom, heartache and joy that good book has to offer. I'm certainly no expert on wisdom, but I've had my fair share of the latter two in my eighteen years and I get crazy, heart-pounding, head-spinning excited when I read a book that puts into words exactly what I've been feeling.

That's why I like to let my books (and my boyfriends? Nope, still weird) age for a little while. They might collect dust, yellow a bit around the edges and drop off bestseller lists. But that's okay, because when we do find each other, when the time is right, there is just nothing like it. A good book will always be there, sitting on the shelf, spine out, proudly declaring: This is me. And I'm here. Come and get me when you're ready. A good book will wait.