Friday, December 24, 2010

The Journey or The Destination

At my house the most fun day of the year is this day before Christmas.  My stepsons are grown with families of their own and two of my sons have serious girlfriends.  They all need to spend some holiday time with the families of their significant others.  Christmas Day had become too hectic and stressed as we tried to get together during the morning hours.  When my children still believed in Santa, my beloved stepsons really wanted to be there and share the magic of Christmas morning.  Now everyone is older they prefer to sleep in that blessed morning.  I like having a cup of coffee before they wake and sharing some time with my husband.
So we started having our celebration the day before Christmas.  We eat buffet style, exchange gifts, play games and have a wonderful time.  I love this day and look forward to it for weeks.  I  can't wait for it to get here but I try to slow down and take time to enjoy the anticipation.  If I don't it's like peeking ahead to the back of a book and seeing how it ends.  It rather ruins all the suspense leading up to the grand finale.  
The journey to the end is what makes a book really good.  You can't have a great ending if you can't keep the reader interested enough to get there.  I love a book that makes me want to slow down so I don't get to the end too quick though I can't wait to read what happens.  The books on my keeper shelf are the ones I savored by page by page.  Sure they had great endings but it was everything leading up to that ending that made the book one of my favorites.  It was the twists, the surprises, the heart-wrenching losses and uplifting triumphs leading up the 'The End.'
What puts a book on your 'keeper' shelf?  Do you look ahead to the end of books?

6 comments:

The Happy Whisk said...

Re-readability, keeps a book on my shelf. Otherwise, it gets tossed, given away, or donated.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I have so many I intend to re-read as soon as I have the time. But so many of them just gather dust.

Gothridge Manor said...

We clear out our books a couple of times per year, to make room for new ones.

The Happy Whisk said...

That was supposed to be from me, but I was still signed on to Tim's account.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

We do something similar on Christmas Eve. And if I really disliked a book, I'll get rid of it eventually. But I keep almost all hardbacks.
Merry Christmas and enjoy your evening!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Usually if I buy a book in hardback I already know the author and perhaps the series and know I will keep it. I'm not sure I ever bought an author new to me in hardback. I have a stack of books I'm waiting to donate to the school's book drive.
Merry Christmas and hope you have to make lots of room on your shelves for new books. (Alex, I know your ipad has lots of room)