There was a time when I didn't know the importance of June 16th. And, you still may not know. It takes a certain level of bookish knowledge, or an association with others who really love books, to know that today is a day to celebrate!

He's considered one of the masters of world literature, a man exiled from Ireland and fated to write and re-write his greatest masterworks, with a goal toward the perfect exemplifications of literary styling. He wasn't bothered by controversy--his famous Ulysses is one of the most famously banned novels of its time (it's got sex, violence, inner turmoil/angst... just about anything you could imagine)...

So, it's appropriate that James Joyce should have his day--but not in the normal sense. You don't need to love Joyce, or his works--to celebrate today. (His brother had a great deal to say about him...) You don't have to enjoy Irish literature, culture, Dublin or beer--to enjoy this day. Perhaps it's enough that you know that something famous happened today, with a vague sense that the event is literary in slant.

Just so you know... Today is June 16. It's called Bloomsday. It's the day on which James Joyce first dated the love of his life, Nora Barnacle. (There's still something romantic in that, though I think most people remember the day more for the next reason...)

June 16th is also the day on which Joyce's infamous novel, Ulysses, is set (where Leopold Bloom wanders the streets of Dublin, thinking about his wife's infidelity--among other things).

Now that you know a little bit about the day, will you celebrate it. If you don't have time for books or events or even a beer (or drink) lifted in commemoration of the day--perhaps just take a moment to remember the journey you've traveled to this point. Joyce made it all about a day in the life of an everyman, but what has your life been with books? How far have you come? What have you learned? What knowledge do you yet crave?

"Out of Ireland have we come, great hatred, little room, maimed us at the start. I carry from my mother's womb a fanatic heart." William Butler Yeats was one of the famous Irish writers. And, he carried his ghosts with him--one way or another--his whole life.

Born in Dublin on June 13, 1865, Yeats was a famous writer in the Irish Renaissance, with award-winning collections that include: The Wild Swans at Coole (1919), Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921), The Tower (1928), The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1933), and Last Poems and Plays (1940). For his body of works--representative of Irish literature, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923.

He wrote of words, of memory, of a woman--old and young, of mythologized Leda, of his daughter, of popular poetry, of that friend whose work has come to nothing, of the folly in being comforted. He wrote about everything and nothing--of things close to his imagination and those hardest to fathom--war, death, age. It's the stuff that we probably encounter every day, but it's still so ephemeral, hard to hold onto.

He wrote: "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."

Yeats wrote in a journal entry, "Is not one's art made out of a struggle in ones soul?" Perhaps he taps into our deepest, most illusive veins--fears, joys and mysteries. He writes of myth, legends, love, death--he takes up residence in our imagination. Can you see the widening gyre, the vortex of ideas? He makes the simple stuff seem epic, and the grand scheme of myth and legend appear a part of everyday, every life. What more of life have you seen through the eyes of William Butler Yeats?

Cover Art © HarperCollins

Some days are so long. The heat seems to squelch us, the moisture seems torn out of the air--there's nothing left. And at the end of the day, the bills pile up higher; your hands may feel worn to the bone; and he darkness only offers a few moments of silence before the next long day's due to begin again.

There are so many works of hope and comfort, or love and loss. Not every story has a Romeo-and-Juliet style ending, but the surprise is sometimes worth it.

I remember quite clearly the circumstances upon which I first read The Necklace. It was a required course in World Literature, taught by one of my favorite teachers and authors. We'd already read Oedipus Rex and The Metamorphosis. We'd read James Joyce and we'd talked about epiphany.

How could a short story about a spoiled young woman possibly compare?

In the story, "Mathilde suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born to enjoy all delicacies and all luxuries. She was distressed at the poverty of her dwelling, at the bareness of the walls, at the shabby chairs, the ugliness of the curtains. All those things, of which another woman of her rank would never even have been conscious, tortured her and made her angry." By the end of the story, her situation has changed dramatically. Unlike the romanticized version of A Little Princess, she and her husband struggle with the burden of a seemingly impossible loss. But, the anger and tortured envy is gone.

We wouldn't have wished for her experience... How could we? But, look at who she became? Was it worth it?

I've heard it said: Ruin is a gift. We may find it anywhere. And, it may offer new perspectives you'll never forget...

What's to love or hate about reading an ebook? What's the good, the bad and the ugly?

Of course, many of the things that make us love ebooks are the very thing that makes us cringe and sometimes avoid the idea altogether.

Yeah, they are light and filled with possibility, but there's nothing quite like the feel of a well-loved book. The heft is wonderful in my favorite monster volumes, and it might even fall out of your hands as you fall asleep. Of course, I'd not want to take a huge (and expensive) classic to the beach or on a hike.

The ebook reader (yes, there are many to chose from) allows you to download many classics, and store them in a digital format for a time when you're ready to read them. And, if you're into the classics, there's a great deal of content in the public domain, so reading may be a much cheaper for you.

Then, if you carry your ebook reader, you'll be able to pick out a virtual book from just about anywhere, take digital notes as you read (depending on the brand of the reader), and steal a moment of diversion--buried in the printed word.

There's really a great deal to be said about the advantages of reading digital books. A friend of mine recently told me that she hasn't finished a book in years (she's just been too busy), but her husband just purchased an ebook reader for her last Christmas. Since then, she carries it with her everywhere, and finds that she really does have time--it just didn't seem like it before.

The ebook could solve at least a few of the reasons why we don't read. And, I'm all for most anything that would get you to read more great books. But, I'm still curious... For those of you who still hang onto the walls of books in your house, why do you love books so much? And, for those who have converted, why? And what do you think? Do you love the size, space, convenience, the geek of it all? Or do agree with today's article from CNN's John Abell, where he writes: "the e-book is fundamentally flawed." He says, "There are some aspects to print book culture that e-books can't replicate (at least not easily) -- yet."