Books are my friends. They can be your friends too.
I’ve had a lifelong friendship with books. It can be said, I LEA books. Sometimes it’s a love affair and sometimes it’s a challenge, but always, it’s engaging. My mom was an avid reader and she passed the gene on to me. I didn’t get her cooking gene, just ask my kids, but I do read.
As a lover of words, I appreciate when they are used to tell a good story. The careful and thoughtful presentation of words contained within a book can create wondrous worlds to explore. My books are my friends, and we often go exploring together. I have traveled far and wide, through time and space, to places real and imagined, with powerful paper wings.
Books have the power to comfort, entertain, enlighten, educate and seduce. (I’m a big fan of that seduce thing.) They can provide insight and inspire as their pages flip through my fingers in a fanciful dance of imagination.
It may sound trite or cliché to say that there have been times when a single book has changed my life and the way I look at the world around me, but it’s true. In 1999 I read Conversations with God by Neal Donald Walsh and it changed my life, thank you God. I think it’s awe inspiring to experience the magic of words presented by a distant stranger who has suddenly become a comforting friend through their sharing of words.
I have boxes of books just waiting for me in my TBR (to be read) pile, each calling to me – ‘pick me, pick me next’. As much as I enjoy the new technology of the ereader, I will never lose my love of books. Besides, they also make great door stops and paper weights. How practical and pragmatic of them.
So, tell me, how has your life been affected by books? Good, bad, or indifferent? Do you have a friendship, a love affair or a love/hate relationship? Whatever your choice, I hope you…. Enjoy Always, T
Tricia Linden 
I’ve always been an avid reader–reading for the craft as well as for the story. I fall in love with a book when it’s well-written, regardless of the subject. The reverse is true, too. I can be drawn to a book because of my love for the subject matter, then be turned off because of the way it is written.
Worst of all is when I find myself in a story and I don’t want to finish it. Something in me urges me to continue (maybe hope that it will get better, maybe a message from long ago saying I should finish what I start). But then I think of all the great books I could be reading instead of this one I’m not enjoying…Such a conundrum! I’m glad it doesn’t happen too often.
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I have also suffered from that ‘once I start, I can’t stop, even if it’s bad’ book reading experience. But more and more I’m learning to walk away from a book that isn’t working for me. I’m not worried about life being too short, but I do believe Life is to be Enjoyed…. as I often say. Thanks for stoping by. T
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Tricia! Conversations with God changed my life too. So did As a Man Thinketh by James Allen!! And books have always been my friends too. I went to the thrift store the other day and found two wonderful biographies: one called Smart Aleck, the life and times of Aleck Woolcott and a biography of Robert Benchley! Both on the same dayl. I’m a huge fan of the Algonquin Roundtable which they were both prominent members of. I have a nice collection of books by various members of the Algonquin Roundtable which I have been collecting for years now. So I was just thrilled to find two “friends” there waiting for me! 😀
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Wow, I can see you have a very impressive collection of books, and pick some great reads. Enviable. I’m only vaguely familiar with the Algonquin Roundtable. I will now go google them. Thanks for sharing. T
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