12 Vintage-Novel Related Things This Gal is Thankful For in 2016

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I’m spilling over with gratitude for SO many things this year, however, this list is confined to a few of the vintage-book related things that have delighted me through this year of reading and working with old treasures.

  1. I’m thankful for a sweet little Canadian woman who penned words and shared them with the public, so that over 100 years later I could read them and delight in the sheer loveliness of her stories, and become inspired by the way that she points out the breathtaking beauty in the ordinary world, relationships, and life.

  2. I’m thankful that I live in an era of internet—an era where one can find almost any old book, and have it appear in your mailbox within a matter of days.

  3. For the cozy, quiet books I traveled through this year with, like Mrs. Miniver, the down-home poems of Edgar Guest, David Harum, and the charming story of Jane Of Lantern Hill.

  4. For the volumes that fire the imagination and stir the blood like J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

  5. For the tales of mystery, daring, and thrills, whose pages I flipped rapidly, and which kept my mind sharp and on it’s toes–The 39 Steps, Death On The Nile…and the list goes on and on.

  6. For the wide open spaces, fresh air, courage during hard times, justice prevailing, pluck, quick-shooting cowboys, and tales of wrongs righted in the vintage western books of yesteryear. Books where the righteous are still hailed as heroes and their land is blessed, while the wicked and their plans come to naught in the blazing masterpiece of a sunset and dusty winds.

  7. For friends who listen to me discuss the books I’m reading, and add their commentary which unearths important points and sharpens my mind.

  8. I’m thankful for each and every one of you customers in my shop, who have allowed me the privilege of being your personal book-hunter, and have helped me be able to do the work I love. I’m so grateful that I have a job where leather bindings, antique pages, and unearthing long forgotten volumes is a part of the daily work. It’s a study of artifacts and cultural history that never grows old.

  9. For the ecstasy of opening an unpublished manuscript that came in the mail, and the kindness of the author who allowed me to read the rough edit.

  10. John Buchan, my new favorite author. And the dear friend who introduced me to his amazing books.

  11. Mr. Standfast, a fine novel if there ever was one.

  12. The dormant lines that I gleaned from vintage novels, and reintroduced to our culture—by quoting them. I often wonder if the author could have guessed which lines would stick out to the readers, and that they would be quoted by folks over 100 years from then.

And the list could go on.

I have plenty to be thankful for (and this list doesn’t even mention non-fiction!).

What books are thankful for this year? What are you grateful for in the literary world?