Spring, summer, fall and winter are more than just seasons on a calendar. We can also think of them as the seasons of a life well lived. 

In Write for the Fight: A Collection of Seasonal Essays, 13 writers reflect on where they've been and where they hope life life will take them before they leave this mortal coil. In this anthology, each writer offers a unique perspective on the seasons of life: 

Spring: Reflecting on what life was like at age 5
Summer: Offering advice to their 20-year-old selves
Fall: Considering what remains on their bucket list 
Winter: Imagining what folks might say about them on their 80th birthday

As editor of this anthology, I had the opportunity to read each essay and interact with the authors who wrote them. Some of them made me laugh. Others made me cry. Still others left me pensive and reflective about my own life. These stories forced me to think about where I've been and where I hope to go in life. It's an incredible journey that I invite you to take with these writers and then apply the seasonal questions to your own life.

Write For the Fight is currently available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but I'm giving away a copy to one lucky reader of my blog. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and your name will be entered in a drawing to receive a soft-cover copy of the book. (To make it interesting, feel free to include a personal observation that addresses one of the four questions from the book.) If you share this blog post (via Twitter, Facebook, etc.), you will earn an additional chance to win. Don't forget to first leave a comment here on the blog. The winner will be selected by a random drawing. (For Facebook shares, please see this public post on my Facebook page and share it. For tweets, please use the hashtag #freeWFTF.) The deadline to comment or share is Tuesday, June 12, at 5 p.m. The winner will be announced by the end of the day on Wednesday, June 13.

While it's not a condition of accepting the book, those of us involved in this labor of love would appreciate a book review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your own personal blog. I also want to mention that proceeds from the sale of this book benefit breast cancer, so if you don't win the free copy, please consider purchasing the book. It's for a good cause.

Please leave a Comment below for a chance to win your copy of Write for the Fight. You can learn more about the book through one of my earlier posts: Write for the Fight: A kaleidoscope look at life — past, present and future. 

It's the end of books as we know them ... and I don't feel fine.

With the closure of both local bookstores (like Nashville's beloved Davis-Kidd) and big chain book retailers (like Borders), it's getting harder and harder to get your hands on a good (printed) book. As of May this year, Amazon.com's sales of e-books surpassed those of hardcover or paperback versions.

But a world without books? I don't want to imagine it. It's almost as dreadful as the Twilight Zone episode of the bookworm who gets his wish to be alone with his books and then finds that his glasses are broken. How tragic! And how tragic a world where books do not exist. But it seems that we're headed ever closer in that direction. I know, I know: We have e-books. And, yes, they're still books —  just in a different format. But, somehow, it's not the same.

I've been contemplating the purchase of an e-reader. It's something I'm ambivalent about. While I would welcome the ease and convenience of reading Web articles, blog posts and other digital media on a screen that is neither too bulky (laptop) nor too small (iPod Touch), I just can't seem to make the jump. I look at the row of books on my bedside table and feel like a traitor to a treasured thing that I have come to revere. From early childhood, books have been like my friends. How can I betray them by replacing them with bits and bytes?

Recently I found myself once again struggling with the unsettling notion of a bookless world when I viewed an ad for a trendy new product: a decorative iPod/iPhone dock made from a "recycled" book. It's the latest cool accessory for your nightstand. Something about "recycling" a book by gutting it just seems sacrilegious to me. Maybe I sound old school. But I don't care. I am not a Luddite. I have Klout. I blog. I tweet. I Facebook. I surf. And ... I am also an unabashed lover and reader of real books. I prefer the feel of a cold, hard spine in my hands, along with the familiar smell of paper and ink. Aaahhh ... there's just nothing like it.

Perhaps I have no room to complain about the current state of the printed word. In recent years, more and more of my book purchases — albeit printed versions — have been through Amazon.com, not from a brick-and-mortar store. It just seemed easier. And now my own lazy behavior is helping to hasten the demise of printed books and bookstores.

But there is good news for Nashville book lovers: Author Ann Patchett is opening an independent bookstore in the Green Hills area of our fair city. Set to open in early November, Parnassus Books is named for Mount Parnassus, known in Greek mythology as the seat of literature, learning and music. A worthy title, I think.

And now it's up to me — us, book lovers all — to get out and support our local bookstores. I'm not suggesting that e-books are evil and will bring on the downfall of civilization. And I won't promise to never buy an e-reader or purchase an e-book. But if I do make that leap, it will not be the primary way that I consume the written word. At least, not as long as I have a choice. For now, I guess, the choice is up to me.


Support your local bookseller!
Parnassus Books
3900 Hillsboro Pike
Nashville, TN 37215
www.parnassusbooks.net
Parnassus Books on Facebook

BookMan Bookwoman
1713 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37212
(615) 383-6555

Elder's Bookstore
2115 Elliston Place
Nashville, TN 37203
615-327-1867
www.eldersbookstore.com

What do you think about the loss of local bookstores and our society's increasing reliance on digital books? Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas. While you are required to give a name in order to leave a comment, you may leave your first name only or a moniker of your choosing . To leave a response, click Comment(s) and enter information in the Leave A Reply form.

UPDATE: I finally purchased a Kindle in April of 2012, but I haven't used it that much. I still prefer a "real" book; reading on a screen just isn't the same. I'm sure I will use the Kindle occasionally, but I can't see it ever replacing books in my life. At least I hope it doesn't. And I hope I will continue to have the choice between paper and plastic for a long time to come.