HAPPY NATIONAL BOOK LOVERS DAY!

August 9 is National Book Lovers Day, and as you might well guess, time travelers like reading.

A lot.

Being stranded in the timestream means you have to know every bit of history you can get your hands on—it just might keep you alive.

Having a good novel on hand when you’re stuck in a particularly boring time and/or place might just keep you sane.

And if it’s an especially bad book, it leaves you with kindle-ing and toilet paper.

SOME HISTORY OF BOOKS

Literature began as carvings on stone and clay tablets, preserving cultures, histories, and stories.  In China in the 1st century A.D. (105 CE), Cai Lun improved the papermaking process, resulting in the large-scale manufacture and worldwide expansion of paper.

Cai's improvements to papermaking had an enormous impact on human history.

In early centuries, books were copied by hand or made using woodblock printing, which was laborious, time consuming, and expensive.  Only the rich could afford the knowledge.

In the 15th century, Johannes Gutenberg invented the moveable type printing press, which revolutionized book making, spread literature throughout Europe, and triggered an information revolution.  Anyone who could write could print their book.  Anyone who could read could purchase a book.

The printing press provided a method for distributing ideas in a way never before possible.

Things you can do to celebrate National Book Lovers Day?  Visit your favorite bookstore and find a new book. Clean your bookshelves and organize your book collection.  Sit on the couch and read that book you got last Christmas.

Books transport you to different times and places, real and imagined. Books are powerful!

We can’t stop buying them.