so many books...

I'm such a book junkie. I remember the good old days when I was a kid and would beg to be taken to the library. Soon the neighborhood library just wasn't enough. I was addicted to the big main library downtown. Most Saturday mornings my dad would drive me all the way there and leave me for several hours. I was in heaven.

A lot has changed in 30 years. I still love books but now I've got to buy them. I only use my local library to donate the few books that I can bear parting with after I've read them. Back when I was a kid, there weren't big book stores everywhere. Buying books was reserved for special times like birthdays and holidays. Now it's a significant line item in my monthly budget.

Books are a source of strength to me. They let me explore other lives and other worlds. They help me sleep and night and often keep me up until I can finish them. Nothing is better than a rainy day, a big mug of tea and a good book in my cosy chair and a half.

I adore reading and am a voracious reader. The beast simply must be fed. I met my husband in a book club run by a bookstore. What could be more perfect, I ask you? My house is filled with books. The last time we moved the movers suggested I take up a new hobby. I think they mentionned 'feather collecting.'

Now I can even get my fix online. I'm often found surfing the internet late at night, reading book reviews and adding to my wish list. I get my fix easily without even leaving my house.

When I first started buying infertility related books, the neighborhood store was more than adequate. They had the basics. You know, books on charting, how to get pregnant if you're older, etc. Now I need more. So, I consult a higher power and can get anything at my fingertips. Since I'm such a junkie, shipping is always free. I love the postman.

The first part of my most recent order got here recently and I'm very excited.

I ordered these books:

• Experiences of Donor Conception: Parents, Offspring and Donors Through the Years by Caroline Lorbach
• Inside Transracial Adoption by Gail Sternberg
• Raising Adopted Children: Practical Reassuring Advice for Every Adoptive Parent by Lois Ruskai Melina

I'm also anxiously awaiting the release of Having your Baby through Egg Donation by by Ellen Sarasohn Glazer and Evelina Weidman Sterling but like any good infertility groupie I know that doesn't come out until May.

Amazon is so very smart. They just somehow knew I'd want the Donor Conception book first and that's precisely what I got. This is totally what I want and need right now. Helping me take the next steps towards parenthood.

Comments

[Nina]

Oh, I am such a book junkie too! I get dizzy when I walk into a bookstore and inhale their scent!
The books that you have ordered all sound very interesting!

[Suz]

We're going to get book reports, right? I love books too, but have found very few good ones on infertility. I'll be really interested to see how these turn out, but they do sound good!

[wessel]

Me too, Millie! When I was growing up, there were years where we did not have a TV, and the library was my main source of entertainment. The librarians were always amazed to see a tiny girl lug 7 to 10 books out the door, only to return one week later for a refill! Bibliotherapy--what would I do without it, I don't know.

Have you read Alice Domar's Conquering Infertility? A very good read, particularly her chapter on third party parenting. Some people might like Rewinding Your Biological Clock, written by an RE who interweaves fictional chapters about a hypothetical couple facing egg donation with medical chapters explaining the process. It wasn't bad.

I still love the library, but I also love to OWN the books too. I think I just need my own library. I have enough books to start a small one.

[Bee]

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my BFN state, and trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, and look upon myself and curse my fate...I go to the bookstore.

I love books, and they are the only -- yes, the ONLY -- enduring and calorie-free consolation to all of life's ills. Only when I am truly, deeply grieving am I incapable of reading. I open a book and fall into its pages, at times when I cannot stand being in my own skin one minute more. And even when I am not so depressed as that, going into a bookstore or library soothes me like a lullaby and a rocking chair.

My husband knows this and sometimes tells me kindly, "Go get some book therapy," and lets me go while away a Sunday afternoon at the bookstore. I can feel my blood pressure dropping just thinking about it. Millie, we are kindred souls!

BTW, I read the Lorbach book you mentioned and it really helped me get my head around my DE decision a few months ago. Will be interested to see waht you think!

[Thalia]

I have a terrible book habit. Between amazon and having a great Waterstone's near my office, I dread to think how much I spend a month. I love to read though, and always have. My mother started counting how many books I was reading when I turned 7, and gave up three months later when she got to 100.

Just found your blog, and found it fascinating. I don't have (very) high FSH, but actually I don't know the number because the blasted doctor won't tell me. He just said it's 'normal'. Hmm not helpful. Good luck on your continuing journey, I'll be back.

[Ellen Glazer]

Hi. I am sorry you were led to believe that Having Your Baby Through Egg Donation is not yet available. You can buy it through Amazon or through Perspectives Press.com. I hope you like it!!

Ellen Glazer