a library in his country house

"I'm haunted by the fate of my friend Dave, who finally, after a long lifetime on an academic salary, could afford at seventy to build a library in his country house—the house itself only acquired in his mid-sixties. A month after the architect's plan was approved and the contractor broke ground, Dave was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was too weak to go up and see the walls rising from the muddy ground, the built-in shelves, the balcony overlooking the verdant fields. By the time it was finished, he was dead."

~~ from My Life in the Middle Ages: A Survivor's Tale by James Atlas

James Atlas on books

"Several times I've bought a second copy of a book that I couldn't find on my haphazard shelves even though I know it's there."

and

"Like the drinker who trusts his hangover with 'the hair of the dog,' I assuage the anxiety about all the books I've bought and not read by purchasing more. Somehow I imagine that if I buy a book I'll read it,"

~~ from My Life in the Middle Ages: A Survivor's Tale by James Atlas