Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. They are engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouses erected in the sea of time.” – Barbara Tuchman, Pulitzer Prize winner (“The Guns of August”)

I’ve often said that the hallmark of maturity in preparedness is when you start focusing on food storage with the same fervor, intensity and enjoyment that was evidenced in firearms planning. Possibly another indicator would be to look at the person’s bookshelf. When you’re just as jazzed about your reference library as you are about whats in your gun safe, you’ve arrived.

I really need to stop loaning out books. I invariably wind up with something like a 50% loss rate. I loaned someone my hardcover copy of One Second After a few months back and that was the last I’ve seen of it. Can’t even remember who I loaned it to. :::shrug::: I had been wanting to re-read it lately. Even though it is very derivative of Lucifers Hammer it was still entertaining.

Anyway, someone was nice enough to stop by and give me their paperback version that they were done with. I think this copy will stay put and not get loaned out.

Even though just about every book I’d be interested in is available in electronic format, I still like the tactile experience of a paper book…plus the fairly rugged portability.

I know someone who, after having similar experiences, has a “three-book policy”. When they find a book that they want and feel is worth keeping they buy three copies – one to use, one to loan, and one for resale. (The books are usually obscure, small-run, reference books.) An expensive, but reasonable, way to do things.

Whenever I think about preparedness books I cant help but think about Dan Forrester from ‘Lucifers Hammer’. Diabetic, overweight, and with no apparently useful skill, he realizes his utility and bargaining power in a post-apocalyptic world is virtually nil. But, as the world is convulsing in the aftermath of the comet strike, he carefully wraps and preserves all of the hundreds of useful books in his library and hides them…knowing that in the aftermath the survivors will need the information on how to rebuild society. And in this way, he buys entry to a fortified community.

Unfortunately, I agree with the quote at the top of this post and that is why, even with the negative experiences, I’ll continue to (carefully) loan books to people. If handing someone a paperback book can be a catalyst for a person’s change, education, development, personal growth, or self-awareness then it’s worth the money to me if I don’t get the book back. And even on a simpler level, if they just get as much enjoyment out of the book as I did, then I’m glad to be of help.

But, sometimes….I just want my damn book back.