Do you ever stop to think how books enlighten us? How they both entertain us and oftentimes enrich our lives?
Do you think about how books inform us and help us view the world?
Last night I finished “A Little Hope” by Ethan Joella. This particular man’s writing touches my heart and leaves imprints.
The book uses a set time, and during that time you are updated with all the characters as you turn the pages.
One by one you learn what’s happening to them and see how each of their stars are aligning.
This is a book where the characters are so fleshed out that you can almost see that character as it enters and leaves as you turn the page.
I can’t imagine not having these different characters enrich and compel my life. Inform me, show me a different way. Teach me.
For a time while I read a book, those characters are almost real to me. That’s if the writer is deft with their words and skillful with the way they build the narrative.
I can’t imagine not reading.
Not having a book on the night stand with a bookmark snug between the pages.
To not have that book waiting for me while I slide between the sheets, get comfortable, and reach for my reading glasses.
Touching a book, picking it up, flipping through the pages is like opening the door and inviting new people into my life.
“Come in, come in,” I’d say to them. “Before I start reading and get to know you, please come on in and sit down and let me get a look at you.”
What would I do without happening upon the wonderful turning of a phrase? One that touches me and makes me pause in order to think about it some more.
What is a book but a series of characters with stories that either make you want to get to know them or turn and walk away?
Almost like strangers you meet that you might become friends with. But you have to let a little time pass before you’re sure. To see who they are and how they engage with the world around them.
Reading is a soulful journey.
It is a trip you take with characters you’ll visualize but never truly know, but who you invite into your life until their story ends.
And then they fade away like a candle that’s finally burned out.
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.”
– George R.R. Martin
I don’t think I’ve ever read a more beautiful post about reading than this one! I finally bought a new Kindle so I can read in bed in the dark without disturbing the hubby, and it is truly one of the best parts of my day.
Brenda, I can’t imagine not reading, either. During the last two or three years I have been more and less well. If I didn’t have books and their stories to distract me from the struggles of my own life, I would be nuts I think. Books are a haven for me as well as a wonderful entertainment. Your description of A Little Hope really appeals to me. I’m going to look for it at my library or at the Thriftbooks website where I get quite a few books. Thanks for today’s post! Happy reading!
Good post…books are wonderful and we are so fortunate to be able to have so many these days!!
Laura I don’t have a Kindle because like your Mother I prefer to hold the book in
my hands. I considered it but no its not for me.
We are a family of avid readers. I am a firm believer in introducing children to books as soon as they are born. My great grandson just loves books. He is 2 1/2 and has over 100 books. His grandfather is building him another book shelf for his third birthday.
I have 5 bookshelves. 6 feet tall, 5 shelves in each case, so 20 shelves in all. They are all filled with books, one of the cases have books two deep. Some books are special gifts given to me at Christmas and birthdays, others purchased throughout years. You will even find books here from my childhood. A set of Nancy Drew, A large old green vintage book of Grimms Fairy Tales, (I was 10) and 5 pop up books I don’t have the heart to give away. These shelves, with new books added all the time, have moved with us 3 times, in the last 50 years. I have taken some to the used bookstore in town, a couple of times, but still, I have books from long ago, that I will not part with. This room would be look empty and odd, to me, without books on the shelves.
Just me, maybe, but a library in my own home makes me smile and very happy.
That should read 4 not 5 bookshelves
I got hooked on books in kindergarten, when we would gather in a semi-circle on cushions on the floor in the “classroom” and teacher would sit on a stool in front of us and read. The first story I remember from that story time (66 years ago) had a female character named Elsbeth, who was a young orphan living with a mean Aunt. I’ve been reading books of all kinds ever since. I have five younger siblings, and none of them are readers. I can’t figure it out. Was I switched at birth??? I think about how much they’ve missed and continue to miss by not reading books – they don’t read magazines or newspapers either. When they come to my home and see the overflowing bookshelves (absent hundreds of books I’ve given away to charitable organizations over the years), they shake their heads. But they’re the ones missing out!
You’ve described reading perfectly, Brenda! I connect more with some characters than others. You find yourself crying, cheering, laughing with and for them.
I’ve just finished reading The Pilot’s Daughter and it felt good to hold a book in my hands. I did have to force myself to start the book but once I did I found it can be a huge part of my self-care journey.
Have a great day!
I love when you can find a book series that you really like, because then you get to revisit with old friends, again and again. You never wonder what happened next in their future.
Thanks for all these book reviews Brenda. They all sound very interesting. I have made a note of them for future reading. I buy them all from Amazon and then pass them on to a neighbor who in turn passes then on to her neighbor. Maybe I am lazy but I can’t be bothered to go to the library and have to spend time looking to see if they have the particular ones I want, I can’t remember the last time I was in a library and I’m in a new city now so don’t even know where it would be. For all the enjoyment I get out of reading I really don’t mind buying them.
Wendy, do you, by any chance, happen to have a kindle? Not only can you buy the books, but you can borrow them either from Amazon (if you have Prime) or from your local library. The library is completely free. Also, it takes up no storage space, if you are limited on space. My mother, on the other hand, prefers to hold an actual book in her hands, so a kindle would not work for her. I happen to love mine.