No. 46 - The Book Archaeologist

I mentioned this in a previous post, but I've gotten my appetite for reading recently. I've been in somewhat of a reading slump for a few months, so it's nice to have the desire to read both with my ears and with my eyes again.

While searching for lists of recommended books on YouTube, I came across the Black Lit Geek YouTube channel.

Brett is, in my mind, a book archaeologist. I'm watching his series called Dead Man's Book Collection, and in this series, he is going over each book that was in a large collection of books he purchased.

I've posted episode four, because he reads some comments made by viewers that echoed many of the thoughts I had watching the previous episodes.

Most of the comments center on how caring and respectful he is of this man's collection and how he views it without judgment. He treats the collection like a treasure hunt, uncovering different details about the previous owner, and by doing so, he lets the previous owner live on in all of our lives.

One of my favorite things about this episode is the uncovering of multiple receipts. He thumbs through the science fiction mass paperback and sometimes unearths aged receipts, adding geography and historical pricing data to the list of things we learn.

People talk about reading and how important it is all the time, but we rarely mention how books connect us not only to the people who have written them, but also to the people who have read them.

A book passed down from a family member, a borrowed book from a friend, a book accidentally misplaced after being borrowed from the library with a list of people who checked it out before you. All of these people are our neighbors, and in these written materials, we find commonality and each other.

What wonderful magic is writing.

As I write this, I am clicking back and forth between this window and Brett’s YouTube channel, and I just saw that he has a playlist called I Bought A Dead Woman’s Book Collection.

This will be the next series that I watch.