The aroma of freshly baked pie and Thanksgiving dinner wafting from the kitchen, that new car smell, coffee brewing in the morning (or anytime of the day) – these are some of the scents that people love.
For me, it’s been books. I’ve always been an avid reader and I swear that a new book has a crisp smell of pine, one that seems to evaporate about five minutes after you start thumbing through it.
I remember recently purchasing a new book and taking it to the coffee shop at Barnes and Noble, holding it up to my nose and smelling the pages after sitting down to enjoy my plunder.
A woman at the next table looked at me cock-eyed, so I quickly put the book down, shrugged my shoulders and smelled my coffee and took a sip. She couldn’t raise an eyebrow to that, I hoped.
My love of books began when I was young, when the teacher used to march us down to the gym/cafeteria for the annual R.I.F. (Reading is Fundamental) program. It was great: there were tables full of new books, all for us kids to sift through, pick one and scrawl our names on the inside cover (about the only time the school ever let you write in a book).
And of course, read.
A few years ago, I found, in an old box in the closet, a book I had selected from R.I.F – Mouse Soup – when I was in first grade.
I couldn’t believe I had saved it and thought I’d show it too my niece, who loved books but was about a year away from learning to read.
She had me read it to her every time she visited over the next year, until she learned to read and then she insisted she read it to me. I wasn’t even allowed to help with certain words until she asked for my assistance.
I’m not sure if schools have R.I.F. anymore, but Lake Orion schools has a book drive this month, which is close enough.
Normally, I don’t join many groups (Like Groucho said: “I’d never belong to any club that would have me as a member.”).
Mainly because I couldn’t write about them without the appearance of a conflict of interest.
But this is an effort I can whole-heartedly support, and one I can unabashedly use column space to endorse while trying to help out.
Anyone wishing to donate their gently used books – reading levels preschool through adult – to the schools can drop books off at any Lake Orion school during regular hours, parent-teacher conferences or The Review office. We’ll make sure they get to the schools.
Teachers will sort through the books and make sure they get to the right classrooms for young readers to enjoy.
And thanks to Blanche Sims Principal Jennifer Goethals for allowing me to join in on this club…effort…whatever. It’s worth it.
Even Groucho would make an exception in this case.

Drop off your gently used books to any Lake Orion school, parent-teacher conference or The Lake Orion Review office, 30 N. Broadway, through Nov. 18 to support the LOCS book drive.