Book Geek

October 6th, 2009 by 801red

I have read a bunch of blogs about being a geek recently and it got me to thinking about the one area I really am a geek. I have a lot to choose from between video games, computers, gadgets, my unhealthy love affair with zombies. Nothing really compares to where I truly get my geek on. I am a book geek. I think I always have been.

It started young for me. When we lived in Novato I used to love the walk to the library. I vaguely remember a small bridge over a tiny creek. I loved that library. It was there I discovered Dr. Seuss and my love for books began.

In third grade I had fallen terribly behind in my reading and I knew it. It didn’t help that I had the reincarnation of Atilla the Hun as my teacher. The only thing I will give that woman credit for is that she knew how much I loved books and she would let me do work around the classroom to earn free books from the book orders. I loved holding those new books even if I couldn’t always read them.

Luckily by sixth grade I had caught up and was soaring ahead of my classmates. We still didn’t have a lot of money and I would spend hours in the public library picking out books. I think every librarian knew me by name.

In high school this love of books became a new goal for me. I had discovered a wonderful bookstore called Hooked On Books that I was determined to work for. They weren’t hiring so I took a job next store in a coffee and frozen yogurt store. I worked at that coffee house for over a year (hence the current coffee addiction). Everyday before and after work I haunted that bookstore. Eventually they hired me, I am sure that my charming personality and rakish good looks were the reason for the hire. It couldn’t possibly be that I annoyed them into it.

I worked there for five years and eventually became the manager before moving on to finish college. I tried to get a job at the college bookstore but they desperately needed a manager in their student computer center. I took the job reluctantly because it made more and hell I was a college student I needed the money. I justified it by saying that I still worked for the bookstore but I did computer work for them.

After college while I searched around for something to do with my psychology degree I went back to my old stand by and took a job at a B- Dalton’s during the holidays. The manager felt bad hiring me saying that I was way overqualified and that she wouldn’t have enough hours for me. In my true book geek fashion, I didn’t care. I just wanted to be around books, they made me happy. Plus, I told the manager I was good and that she would find more hours for me. I was the assistant manager of that bookstore within 3 months.

I would eventually find myself teaching but I miss working at a bookstore. One of the best parts of my job now is hooking kids on reading. Finding that perfect book for them. I love reading good stories to my class. I let my inner actor out and give them lots of different voices. I get to be a book geek in the best way now, I create new book geeks.

I still treat bookstores like my church. My wife loves books but always makes sure that she has other stores nearby to shop at because I can take hours in a bookstore. Picking up books, reading back covers, looking up reviews. When we travel, one of the highlights is finding cool new bookstores. I love that my wife indulges this geek out. Now every night I go home to my office and write. Surrounded by my autograph book collection. If I accomplish nothing else in my life I did at least grow up to be a very good book geek.

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