As a child, one of my favorite places in the world was the local library. I loved selecting a stack of books and taking them up to the librarian to be checked out with my own library card — watching her stamp the due date in each and every one and then sliding them back to me to take home. I even dreamed of working at the library, re-shelving books (my little brother actually snagged that job for awhile in high school). I read every single book I could find by Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume and Lois Lowry, then worked my way through the Baby-Sitters Club and all of Christopher Pike’s books, and sometimes started it all from the beginning again. Back in the days before Goodreads and Amazon and everyone on the internet telling you what you should read, all you had was the card catalog and your favorite, trusted authors to read over and over again.
These days, books are still my happy place, my escape, and where I go to discover new ideas and realize just how small and just how large the world really is. Whether novels or non-fiction, the common stories and narratives that everyone carries around within them inspire me to search for connections I didn’t even know existed.
My heart skips a bit every time I think about the whole universe of books out there I haven’t read yet, and I hope this love affair never changes.
What do books mean to you? Is it a love story or a bit of a struggle?
This post is part of Susannah Conway’s April Love, a series of love letters spanning the month of April.
Loved the post, and loved the blog, I am also an expat myself…from Italy to Uk:)
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Always glad to hear from a fellow expat. :)
oh, always ALWAYS a pleasure. I love my books so much, I cannot get enough of them! (BTW I am loving the #AprilLove2016 aren’t you?)
Yes, even though I’m not able to respond to every prompt, some of them are just so fitting with my life right now that I can’t resist!
BIG and never ending love story!!! <3 I always stroke books when I´m at a bookstore…and as I told the girls from Bloggerstammtisch ;) just a little time before I failed once again at my intention to reduce my book inventory…just bought 3 new ones yesterday.
Looking forward to see you soon (at least next month) :)
Hi Tanja, I’m so glad to hear! I agree, a nice soft bookcover is my favorite thing. :) Looking forward to catching up at the next Stammtisch!