Alyson's post about life-changing books got me pondering. I think every book I've read has affected me in some way.
Of all the ups and downs in my life, the one constant has been books. I always have a book with me. Always. I get stressed? I want to curl up and read a book. I get depressed? I want to curl up and read a book. I get bored? Well, you know the drill.
I even have book anxiety. Like when I'm on vacation and I've have finished reading the book(s) I brought with me. Or I'm waiting in a doctor's office and I brought the wrong purse with me and the one with the book in it is sitting at home. Not having a book to read is like... gaaaaah! Does anyone else get this way?
Pictured above are just some of the books I've read in the past couple of months that have made my life more enjoyable. (These are the ones that found their way into my office where I am writing this post...) VIOLET BY DESIGN and KEEPING THE MOON came with me on Spring Break. : )
How many of you are like me? Are books as much a part of your life as breathing?
Linda
P.S. Shameless plug... to celebrate my upcoming release of DEATH BY BIKINI, I'm giving away a signed advanced copy and a totally cute bikini pin over at my blog today if you want to stop by...
~*~
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22 comments:
Yes Linda, I am completely bereft without a book to read! We are all such voracious readers in our house, we visit the library once a week to stock up. (If we bought all our books, we'd go broke!)
Bev, your house sounds like mine. And our librarians know us by name. : ) I'm bummed my photo didn't come out clearer... Beyond Cool is there in the pile, but the words are blurred and the colors on the spine look off. : ( Sorry about that. But I loved the book!
Never mind! I fixed it. (Moral of the story - don't take pictures before the sun comes up with a low camera battery...)
Books and music are my comfort foods (so to speak). With as much as I read I am surprised to find I have only read three of the books in your lovely pile. Now I have more books to look into!
When hubby and I went on our (belated) honeymoon in February I packed FIVE books - just in case I ran out! Got through three of them though (not because I had nothing else to do, but there were plane rides, reading before bed, reading in the early morning sunshine.. etc). ;)
Yup, me too. I always have a book with me-- ALWAYS! And when I go on vacation I pack more books than I can possibly read-- just in case we decide to stay longer, or there's a major delay, or a natural disaster-- you just never know, and having a good book by your side always helps!
Oh my gosh, I am exactly like you! Books are always with me. If I finish the books that I brought with me on vacation, I have to go to a bookstore and buy a few more!
A couple of weeks ago, I had brought a book with me to work (I am a crossing guard at an elementary school.) When I got back, I brought the book with me to my mom's room (she also works at the school, as a computer lab aide) and started reading. After a few minutes I thought of something I needed to look up on the Internet. I put my book down and forgot about it.
At home, we were stopped in the driveway to pick up something in the house and leave again. I was sitting in the car patiently waiting and realized that I didn't have my book! We went back to the school and looked everywhere. I was starting to panic because I was in the middle of the book and could not start reading another until I finished that one. Also it was a library book, so I was worried that I would have to replace it if we didn't find it.
Luckily after about 20 minutes of searching everywhere I went in the school after work, we found the book on top of the computer I was using.
I was soooo relieved!
But I ALWAYS have to have a book with me or else I just might start to panic!
My little sister asked me the other day which I would rather live without-- books or my computer. And, to me, it was almost a silly question.
I sent out this silly myspace survey that your friends are supposed to fill out about you, the first one I got back...
one sentence about Samantha: she'd rather be reading.
And that's the truth. I'd much rather be reading than pretty much anything else. Books are such an integral part of me that if I was told I had some terrible kind of disease that could only be cured by not reading books... I'm not sure I could follow those instructions.
My new year's resolution was to not buy any books until I finished the pile (mountain) of books I haven't read yet... I've bought around ten new books this year already and the mountain is still as big as ever and awaiting it's own name so it can join the county as it's own city.
Cat, you are a wise packer. : ) Nothing worse than running out of books while you're traveling!
Alyson, so true. In fact, we were caught in that huge thunderstorm driving back from Florida so it took us several hours longer than expected. Good thing I went prepared!
Oooh, Meredith. It's a good thing you found your book. The only thing worse than losing your own book is losing one you've borrowed!
LOL about naming your mountain of books, Samantha. Sounds about like my TBR pile. But my motto is, you can never have too many books!
same kind of person here, Linda; i always carry a book in my purse. even if i know i don't get the chance to read in it. Reading books is a basic need for me. I am so lucky there is an american bookstore not far away from here, because i prefer english books.My library doesn't have much english books unfortunately.
i just started a magnificent new book by Nora Roberts(haha and it is way to heavy to carry with me in my purse!)
Aw, thanks for putting Beyond Cool in the pile! (It's neat to see it in someone else's photo :)
Great photo - I've got quite a few of those books on my shelf right now!!!! Anyway, I sooo agree with you. I've had visitors staying with me recently and one of them was making a two hour bus trip by herself WITH NO BOOK.
Honestly, I was in shock. I'm a bad writer who never carries a notebook or pen but I ALWAYS have a book in my handbag for if I have a spare ten minutes. The thought of having two hours of leisure and no book is unbearable!
Marjolein, I feel your pain. When we were living in Tokyo I was sooo grateful that we lived near the international school. I was able to check out English books from the library. Still, every time we returned to the States for a visit, half my luggage weight heading to Japan was from the books I picked up while we were here!
Amanda, two hours of travel without a book??? How can a person even consider that? Aaak!
I have books everywhere in my house so I can always pick one up to read. And, as I am an English teacher, there are plenty of books at work to read as well.
Really, the only place I don't read is while driving.
My to-read pile is tall and lovely--it makes me smile just to look at it and dream of all the worlds I'll enter soon!
When I'm on deadline or knee-deep in a project, my eyes get weary and I find myself reading fewer books. Once that deadline has been beat, I choose a book to read as a reward. I oftentimes receive novels from author friends, my agent and editor, (or MSS's from my CPs or the publisher I write cover copy for)but I really try to go out and buy (and make a big production of it so everyone around knows how excited I am to be buying so-and-so's book)books because I like knowing that in a small way, I'm helping another author reach her dream.
Paperback Writer - I even licked the reading while driving thing (well sort of) when I discovered audible books. : )
Melissa, I love the thought of a TBR pile being worlds waiting for me!
Wendy, you're like me - I get a special thrill buying the books of authors I know.
It's the greatest feeling in the world!... Next to being carried away by their stories, that is.
I always take a book with me, wherever I go. I've just got back from holiday and I deliberated more over how many and which books to take than with the rest of my packing. I HATE it when I run out of books to read when I'm away. In case I can't find a decent bookshop close by. I worked out it well this time, as I came back with one unread.
Congrats on the release of Death by Bikini.
I get the same way too. I have such a long way to get to school, and sometimes I finish a book on the way to school, and then I have nothing to read on the way home...or sometimes when I forget my book at home I'm depressed for the rest of the day...haha...
When I was reading the book Twilight, I had read more than half way, and it was the only book in my purse...I was on the way to the airport, and I was reading it on the car...I thought I put away the book, because I wanted to read it on the plane...and when I got on the plane I noticed I had forgotten my book in the car...I cried on the plane, and my mom would offer me a book of hers, but I would be all snotty, and say 'No...I want TWILLIGHTT!' yeah I know I'm a big baby...but the flight was over 15 hours, and I had absolutly nothing to read...=[
Sara, actually the release date is still over a month away, but I'm celebrating each Friday all the way to the launch. : )
Rachel, do you fly out of Narita? Just curious. I would have cried, too if I left Twilight behind! I DEVOURED that series and I can't wait to see what Bella does in the next book. Who do you like better for her, Edward or Jake?
Well, I'm terribly late, but I just couldn't resist posting to this one.
It's odd. I've moved six or seven times in my life, mostly when I was younger. I moved across seas when I was eight, moved states when I started 7th grade. It was simply horrible for me, someone who hates change. But on my bookshelf sit four of five books that were bought in India when I was around 5 and I will NEVER forget them.
So yeah, books have been a huge huge constant in my life. I read books to remind me of everything that I don't know and everything I wish I will never forget and I read books for enjoyment that seems missing sometimes in my life.
And I know, the best time I will EVER have is when I get home on a Friday afternoon, tired of my week of school, and sit down in my bed with a bowl of ice cream and a book I've been waiting anxiously to read ^_^.
I inhale books - 'nuff said.
Jane Eyre, The Great Gatsby, Love in the Time of Cholera, Ahab's Wife, Memoirs of Cleopatra.
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