Ben Loves Books (His Mother's Child)

Ben is in his glory. This tower of books awaits his reading pleasure -- they should keep him busy for a month or two. We went to Barnes and Noble the day after Christmas and he spent his entire Christmas wad -- $130 -- on books. He loves to buy series that come in sets and then read the whole series IN ORDER, if you please. His bookshelves are filled with read and unread books, the unread books are tipped on their sides, or lay on top of the other books with the unread pages facing out. He would give up his brother or his dog sooner than he would part with a book. I've tried to point out there will come a time in his life when, as a college student, he will likely move frequently and books are heavy and take up a lot of space. He says that's OK, he'll just leave them with me until he gets settled.
But he comes by this genetically, I remember a day when his mother was a child -- about eight years old. We had been grocery shopping and were about to head for home and she began to pitch a fit. When I asked her what was wrong, she wailed, "I can't go home, I have nothing to read." Fortunately, because I carry the same gene, I understood perfectly and we made a stop at the library before continuing homeward.