I love books and feel there is nothing better than turning an actual page (versus those e-books/kindle/whatever the heck they are). I enjoy all types of books really. I'm really into Christian literature (currently reading "The Shack" by William P. Young and so far it's very interesting). I of course gravitate towards anything involving video games, LOVE Stephen King (favorite book: IT), James Patterson (Alex Cross novels), Dan Brown, Barry Eisler (John Rain books especially), Michael Crichton, John Grisham,biographies always fascinate me (I love the Walt Disney bio "Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler), and anything else that might look interesting.
Thomas Jefferson said it best:
"I cannot live without books: but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is the only future object."
Thomas Jefferson to John Adams
Thomas Jefferson made this passionate statement about reading in June, 1815. Today, more than 3,000 books from Jefferson's personal library are still a part of the Library of Congress collections. The Library of Congress was established by an act of Congress in 1800 and was housed in the new Capitol until August 1814, when invading British troops set fire to the Capitol Building, burning and pillaging the contents of the small library.
Within a month of the fire, retired President Thomas Jefferson offered his personal library as a replacement. Jefferson had spent 50 years accumulating books, "putting by everything which related to America, and indeed whatever was rare and valuable in every science;" his library was considered to be one of the finest in the United States. In offering his collection to Congress, Jefferson anticipated controversy over the nature of his collection, which included books in foreign languages and volumes of philosophy, science, literature, and other topics not normally viewed as part of a legislative library.
In January 1815, Congress accepted Jefferson's offer, appropriating $23,950 for his 6,487 books, and the foundation was laid for a great national library. The Jeffersonian concept of universality, the belief that all subjects are important to the library of the American legislature, is the philosophy and rationale behind the comprehensive collecting policies of today's Library of Congress. Today's Library of Congress contains over 130,000,000 individual items in its collections.
Log in to comment