I love books; I love all kinds of books. I read all the time growing up, often cutting class to go to the library to read. I even studied library science as a career and worked in libraries. As the years went by, I found I was becoming more and more interested in old books. I collected books from the library where I worked as they were being weeded or sold at book sales; the older the better. I ended up with a collection of Walter Scott novels published in the late 1800s, and a book of Shakespeare’s plays from the early 1900s. I love the illustrations, the bindings are great and the paper usually stands up over time and does not yellow as quickly as books published in the 1950s. 

I was lucky I got these books for free; buying old or antiquarian books can become a very expensive hobby. You can spend more on a book than you would on a princess cut wedding band. However, many people don’t mind the investment. They like the look and the feel of those old books and they like the fact that something published so long ago can be touched and experienced.

 With the advent of ebooks and e-readers, many fear that there will come a time when no new books are published in paper. This makes them only more interested in investing in old books and preserving their history. They like the look of books in their rooms, they like to line their walls with bookshelves; they prefer the physical feel of books.  They feel that having books makes a home look more lived in and comfortable. They don’t care if they spend as much as they would on several wedding sets or on a new car. Book collectors are a special breed.

The first thing you need to consider I the environment that you are keeping your bookcases in. You want the humidity and temperature to be carefully regulated. You may not be able to set up an archive akin to what you would find in a museum archive but you can get a combination hygrometer and thermometer for the room you are keeping those book cases in. If you get humidity control units and set it to the proper level, that should be good enough and discourage the hatching of book worms.

Yes, book worms. They are real things and the first time you see the damage they can do to price less books will stick with you and never leave your head. They can only thrive in certain conditions but the second you see any damage from them, you need to check your entire collection and quarantine the culprits.

One of the most overlooked considerations is the book cases that you use. You want to avoid anything with a heavy or overly fresh stain. If you don’t mind the look of them there is a reason that most archives use non-reactive, steel bookcases. It’s surprising how much damage a little contact with the wrong materials can do to an old book.

Make sure that everything the books come in contact with is clean and non-reactive. That means that you should use acid free archive paper in between the books. This is especially important if they are leather bound. Leather is surprisingly acidic and it can do damage to the other books in the bookcases.

Some of the best cookbooks for southern food are found in the Southern Living series. If you’ve ever read Southern Living magazines, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the great southern recipes found on the pages. These recipes, along with thousands more, can be found in the cookbooks. I’ve found these cookbooks to be very helpful, and I love the beautiful photographs. There are many books included in the series, based on types of foods and on special holiday recipes. For example, some of the books focus on vegetables, fish, pork, beef, or breads, while others provide a variety of recipes for certain holidays, especially Christmas.

Other southern cookbooks I really enjoy are the ones by Paula Deen. Deen is a Georgia native, and I love her cooking style and her inherent humor. I think one reason I enjoy her cookbooks so much is that she cooks a lot like I do, so I can readily relate to and appreciate her techniques, methods, and food choices. I think Paula could teach just about anyone to become a great southern cook!

I’ve also found several wonderful cookbooks that were published locally. Often compiled by garden clubs, churches, and businesses, these little gems are filled with recipes by ordinary citizens. The books are usually very inexpensive, and in fact, sometimes businesses give them out free of charge as a form of advertising. I received an awesome local cookbook from a Florida realtor when I rented a vacation house from the business.

If it was up to me, I would put a lot more faith in the books and systems of yesterday than those of today. While I’m not saying that there hasn’t been a lot of progress, the truth is that most of what gets released today is pure and simple garbage. Most of the people who write fitness books these days only recycle the same old information that was already available to everyone for free, and that’s if you’re lucky and stumble upon a book that actually provides you with something relevant. The only way for a modern fitness book to be better than an older one is if it has been proven to actually be more effective in the techniques it proposes.

As I mentioned before, I do believe that a lot of progress in the health and fitness domain has been made. And that is why I decided to put my faith in the TRX workout system for my exercising, and Diet to Go for my nutrition. While the TRX system is quite light and complete, featuring only a set of suspension cables used for all the exercises in addition to a guidebook, it comes at a price of $199. However, this situation can be remedied by finding a TRX coupon, which shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.

Diet to Go is actually a program that is designed to replace your regular foods with much healthier alternatives that actually taste good, if not better than what you usually eat. You can even have the items delivered to your door and constantly use a Diet to Go coupon in order to also save money on your meals.

Another benefit of reading is that it can expand your mind and open up to you ideas and concepts you never even heard about. For instance, you could learn about lucid dreams and the possibilities that you can take advantage of each night you go to bed. If you want to get promoted, reading books about leadership and success can help you to develop skills that will make you more valuable to the market place. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on books, get used books or check them out for free at the library. Just 30 minutes a day of reading over a few years can completely change your life.