There are 86 days till 2008. Books are to mankind what memory is to the individual. They contain the history of our race, the discoveries we have made, the accumulated knowledge and experience of ages; they picture for us the marvels and beauties of nature, helps us in our difficulties, comfort us in sorrow and in suffering, change hours of weariness into moments of delight, store our minds with ideas, fill them with good and happy thoughts, and lift us out of and above ourselves. When I read, I may not only be kings and live in places, but, what is far better, I may transport myself to the mountains of the seashore, and visit the most beautiful parts of the earth, without fatigue, inconvenience, or expense. Precious and priceless are the blessings which books scatter around my daily paths... @};-