“O, there is lovely to feel a book, a good book, firm in the hand, for its fatness holds rich promise, and you are hot inside to think of good hours to come.”
Richard Llewellyn, How Green Was My Valley
There is something infinitely precious about books. Humans have created a system whereby, through a series of markings on a page, we are able to get a glimpse into the mind and heart of another person. That person may have lived and died centuries ago, but, through books, we can come to know them.
It’s a kind of magic that allows us to live a hundred lifetimes, go on countless adventures, feel the pain of a thousand heartbreaks and the joy of a thousand loves. Books are the voice of our collective humanity crying out for our stories to be heard. They become our escape, our teachers, and our friends.
My love of literature began early. As a small child, I would sit on my mother’s lap in the evenings while she read to me. When I reached elementary school, my favorite part of the school day was SSR (Silent Sustained Reading). I was a socially awkward and introverted child, so being allowed to quietly read on my own was a delight. In the afternoons, I would rush home from school to watch Wishbone, a TV show about a dog who connected events in his life to classic works of literature like A Tale of Two Cities or Beowulf.
My aunt gifted me Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for my twelfth birthday, and I devoured it. Few things, before or since, have captured my imagination like Harry’s adventures at Hogwarts. I recall the nights that I stayed up until the small hours of the morning reading the newest Potter book, knowing I’d be exhausted the next day, but too engrossed to possibly go to sleep. I’m a rabid Potterhead to this day.
As I grew, my taste in books matured, and my interests continue to widen. I discovered a love of nonfiction books well into adulthood, and find that reading nonfiction allows me to continue learning long after my formal education has ended. History and the social sciences are particularly interesting to me, but I’ll read just about anything.
I believe that being open to various genres is vital to a sustained love of reading. Books are food for the mind, and occasionally I find that I am (or am not) in the mood for a particular flavor. I crave genres like I crave different cuisines. Sometimes I really want to read a science fiction novel. Sometimes I’m in the mood for a Regency romance. Other days I find myself enthralled by a nonfiction book about octopuses. The variety keeps me interested, my ever-growing To Read list keeps me motivated, and the authors themselves keep me returning, time and again, to the page.
My goal with this blog is to celebrate books in all their varieties. You’ll find reviews of books as I read them. You’ll find my recommendations for books in several genres. I hope that you’ll find engaging content. But most of all, I hope that you’ll find a new literary friend.
Happy reading!
