#Reading Archives - Sterling Terrell

The compulsion to read is not unlike a lot of other compulsions, I suppose.

I mean, was going to say that the reading urge is more of a simple please than all the other addictions and desires of the flesh – but I am not sure that is true.

My need to be alone and to be lost in my thoughts, back and forth between the pages of a book, is as real and as physical as the need for food and the need of relationship.

At least I think so. 🤷‍♂️

I feel as though I cannot breathe without it.

For I spent many afternoons in college and graduate school in similar poses, lost among the stacks.

My kind of downtime…

The most striking part of Elon’s character as a young boy was his compulsion to read. From a very young age, he seemed to have a book in his hands at all times. “It was not unusual for him to read ten hours a day,” said Kimbal. “If it was the weekend, he could go through two books in a day.” The family went on numerous shopping excursions in which they realized mid-trip that Elon had gone missing. Maye or Kimbal would pop into the nearest bookstore and find Elon somewhere near the back sitting on the floor and reading in one of his trancelike states.

-Ashley Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (Amazon)

Oh, wow – here are 18 bookplates of famous writers.

Bookplates are a bit of a throwback these days though, aren’t they?

If you don’t know – they are nothing more than a label on the inside cover of a book denoting ownership.

Bookplates come from a place that feels like there was more time. More time to think and fewer books to consider. A time of long lunches and quiet afternoons. A time of morning walks and weekends in the Sunday House. It all reminds me of summer. Maybe it was only that the pace of life was slower back then.

I miss sitting the afternoon away in my parent’s library reading among all the hardcovers, dog underfoot.

Other than the top one there, here are three more of my favorite: