A Gift To Myself: Celebrating With New Books

As someone who's always been on the giving end, I have spent my life showering loved ones with thoughtful gifts. I know how far gifts can go in making people smile, so I always put much thought into them. I love giving gifts, whether it is a birthday, or just because I want to bring smiles to their faces. I don’t know what influences this in me, but I have always been like this for as long as I can remember. I'm sure you agree with me that there is nothing wrong with giving gifts- nothing wrong with making people smile. However, it becomes “slightly wrong” when you do things for others and neglect yourself. Looking back, as someone who loved giving people gifts, I don’t think I have ever bought myself a gift. My birthday is in a month (February 14), and this time, I'm turning the tables and treating myself to something special- two brand-new books.

There's something undeniably special about new books. There's a special type of gratification I get when I see and touch new books. I love the smell of fresh paper, the thrill of a new book’s cover, and the soft rustle you get when you turn the pages. You could smell the ink if you tried hard. In today's world where technology has taken over every aspect, including the literary world, many people have forgotten about hard copies, abs are now focused on E-books. Of course, most of the books I have are e-books. My E-library is filled with many books, some of them begging to be read, while my physical library is covered with spider webs, abandoned for years.

It has been decided that for my birthday this year, I'll get myself two or three special new books. Now, the big question is WHAT BOOKS? I have been pondering this question since last year. As a book lover, I have a long list of books I’d love to buy for myself, but looking deeply, none of the books on my list are “special enough.” I don’t want to make a mistake that I’d regret for a long time. Who knows the next time I'd want to do something this nice for myself? So, the decision has to be perfect. Up until December, I had no idea what books to buy. As someone who is a lover of different genres, my taste is wild. I could go for African books, and on the other hand, I could go for non-African books. I was once a lover of Greek mythology, wouldn't it be nice to have a hard copy of a Greek myth? This was the dilemma I saw myself in until…

I was stuck in this dilemma until I watched The Other Zoey. I did a review of this movie last Sunday. Although this movie is a total flop (in my opinion), it left me with something nice- a book. I’d been brainstorming on books to buy for myself on my birthday, and this movie settled a part of it. In the movie, the main character, Zach talks about a book about women spies during the second world war. He did not mention the title of the book, so I had to zoom in and then go online to do further research, and violaaa! I found the title of the book- Code Girls by Liza Mundy. The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers during the Second World War. Interestingly, I am working on a final-year project that revolves around War (the First and Second World Wars). Not only will this book serve as extra material, but it will also add to my knowledge.

Next…

I had a short conversation with a fellow book lover on Hive who recommended Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks. I proceeded to download the book right away, but since I’ve got exams, I left it in my library till after exams. I thought about this, instead of reading the soft copy, wouldn't it be nice to buy the hard copy and enjoy it better? It is either this or another book by my favorite author, Judith Clarke. Judith Clarke has been my favorite author ever since I read one of her books- Night Train. One thing about me is that I struggle to have a favorite anything. I don’t have a favorite food, color, dress, sneakers, or anything at all. But somehow, I fell in love with Judith Clarke’s Night Train and it became my favorite book. I have the hard copy of Night Train and I think it’d be nice to have another hard copy.

I've got a treat planned for myself - buying 2 or 3 new books! I've already decided on two, but I'm still undecided on the third one. I'm open to recommendations. What’s a great book you've read recently?

Thanks for reading.