It was the best of times...

I doubt that many would deny the fact that economies around the world are doing poorly and that the worst is very possibly yet to come. No doubt about it; times are tough, and discretionary income is shrinking for most of us to the point that choices are having to be made. Do we bring sack lunches to the office and use the savings to eat dinner out once a week? Do we trade that new electronic gadget in the window we've been coveting for a much needed three-day-weekend away from home with the family?

Tough choices all, but we "book people" are probably faring better than most at this point. Books have never been cheaper, nor have there ever been more sources from which to buy books. They are readily discounted at the big chain stores, on the web, and even in variety and grocery stores. Used-book stores seem to be everywhere, and it is not unusual to pick up a new book for a buck or two while browsing the thousands of used books for sale there.

So I think we're doing OK despite the near out-of-control addiction that has so many of us rapidly filling our homes with books we'll probably never finish reading. As addictions go, we have at least chosen a relatively affordable one.

One Kansas student, in fact, seems to have rediscovered her inner-nerd because of how the gloomy economy is forcing her to live "the hermit life."

I used to go out all the time, didn’t like to stay in because I felt like a loser. However, once I didn’t have the cash to blow thirty or forty bucks on entertaining myself, I had to start spending some major one-on-one time... with no one else but me.

At first it was awful, I was completely bored...

...

Then I discovered it, the answer to all my problems hidden under my bed, I stumbled upon it as I was cleaning my room. A book, but not just any book, it was a book I had always wanted to read, 1984. Its so strange, I don’t even know how it got there, it was fate, and I immediately decided I was going to read it cover to cover. I love science fiction, and I love a good dystopian story. That’s something about me I like, and hadn’t thought about it in a long time. Reading this book reminded me just how much I love to read, and how much of a nerd I really am. Then that book led to another book, then I went back and re-read some of my favorite books from when I was little, like The Giver and Ender's Game.

And there you have it. Those with the ability to enjoy the simpler joys of life have a definite advantage in times like these. I consider myself lucky never to have lost contact with my own "inner nerd." He's a cool little guy - really.