For the Love of Books

"The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read." - Mark Twain

After a surprisingly relaxed trip (including playing on a teeter-totter at one of the rest stops and getting 47 vehicles to honk at us [mostly semi trucks but at the end we were so desperate to get to 50 we held up a "HONK" sign to every car that passed]) we arrived at Grandma's. It's been a quiet visit so far. A little sightseeing today and some shopping, but not much else.

Usually a visit to Grandma's would include one day spent at my friend's house. However, she just left for college. Sometimes, I really hate growing up. I've said that before, right?

Anyway. I brought three books with me. After I finished the Ranger's Apprentice I was reading, I picked up The Secret Garden. This is my third time reading it (I think). It's one of my all-time favorite books, and partly for this reason: it's the book that got me reading for real.

It was while Dad was away with his training and we were staying with Grandma. Mom got me a few books from Wal-Mart, The Secret Garden being one of them. At the time, I was a very slow reader, though I did sort of enjoy it. Secret Garden took me less time than most books of its size previously had. I fell in love with it.

Somehow we girls (being my youngest sister and her buddy, who joined us on our trip) got on this subject. For my sister, that magical book was Because of Winn Dixie. For our friend, it was Charlotte's Web. They were the simple books full of adventure and wonder that finally pried open the door to our imaginations and showed us what was possible.

"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally - and often far more - worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond." - C. S. Lewis

I read something recently that described coming to the end of a good book was to bookworms like getting a high. Wherever this was, whoever said it, they called it a literary high. That's a pretty apt description.

I pretty much always have a book with me. The times are rare when I'm not in the middle of one (though I can't manage more than one at one time, unless one is something like Jane Eyre or The Silmarillion). Goodreads is one of my favorite sites because it is solely devoted to books; the love of books, tracking the books I'm reading, book authors, and helping me find new books.

When we were getting ready to leave on our trip down south, I stuck my bag in the car and Heather said, "What could you possibly be bringing that would take so much room?" (or something to that effect, and referring to myself and our sister.) I replied, "Uh...books!" She rolled her eyes. ("Well-read people are less likely to be evil." -  Lemony Snicket)

Yeah, this is the girl who is content to take a year to read one book. I kid you not. Needless to say, she doesn't "get" my book passion. I don't really "get" people like that.

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." - George R. R. Martin

I've mentioned before that I'm just now working my way through a lot of the old classics, especially childrens' classics. I tend to enjoy them more than most modern books I pick up (especially modern teenage paranormal romances). With a few exceptions, I don't much appreciate the average modern children's book. Too blatantly educational for my tastes. When I have kids, they're getting Whinnie the Pooh.  It's been proven over and over that reading helps a person's learning ability and intelligence (as well as music and being multi-lingual, which are other things I'd like to teach my kids [and yes, I, too, feel a little strange talking like that]). In my opinion, writing books all about the characters counting pennies or reading clocks is a bit redundant and takes away part of the fun of the readin experience.

But that's all I have to say on that subject. That's all I have to say right now, actually. Is it obvious I'm a bit distracted?

One last thing: "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once." - C. S. Lewis

(Goodreads is also a great place to find quotes.)