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| Early 19th century teapot with a center pattern depicting a child reading a book. It is known as "The Reader." I have been called that too. |
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| A close-up of the center pattern. |
I should tell you that I read the the New York Times Book Review (paper copy) every week. Every review. I have been doing this since high school. One of my greatest pleasures is reading, so I am always looking for something new to read. So, you can imagine my pleasure when I discovered online book sites, which review (and sometimes sell for amazingly low prices) new and old books that have been digitized. I signed up with my email address for book notices. I didn't realize that an email would arrive every day! Even Saturday and Sunday. Bookbub, the first site I discovered, was followed by Bookish and Bookperk. ShelfAwareness, NetGalley, and LiteraryHub soon followed. I felt duty-bound by my love of books to read about every book. I was tyrannized by book sites! Deleting a site without reading it felt like book burning! I shall add that my iPad overflows (or it would if it weren't a computer) with books waiting to be read. (I have given you links to these sites. Follow them at your peril!)
There aren't a lot of transferware patterns that show books and reading. Most, as you may know, were used on mugs and plates that were gifts for children who were mastering the art of reading. I wish I owned one.
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| Child's 1.94 inch mug "For Loving A Book," ca. 1830. What a charming gift for a child who loves to read. Or anyone who loves to read. |
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| "For Loving A Book" child's 2.38 inch high mug, ca. 1830. |
One more thing. Pottery and books go well together. As you can see, pottery and books are cluttering up my shelves as much as eBook sites clutter up my in-box.
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| Pottery and books go well together! |
After many years of persistent reading and watching others do the same, I came to realize that there is such thing as "information addiction" and I have been recovering from it for about 5 years now. I can safely enter a book store and leave with out buying anything! And I have been able to sell lots of previously read books on Amazon without a twinge of regret. I was raised with the belief that no amount of reading could ever be an overdose, or obsessive, and wonder if it was something in the Phila. atmosphere.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there is a support group for addicted readers. I started a book group, but it only fuels my addiction! Do you have the ceramics addiction too?
ReplyDelete