Books

As I decided to call my blog The Book Worm I thought it was about time I wrote something about books. I love books. I have loved them since I was a small child. While other children may have been drawing over their books, ripping out pages, breaking the spines, and generally abusing them, all my books from my childhood were kept in nearly perfect condition. In fact I still have a few boxes on books from when I was kid! Sure some of them show signs of ageing and being read a few hundred times, but overall they are still in excellent condition.

My books were (and still are) incredibly important to me. Before I could read them myself my Nanny Mary would sit and read them to me. She loved books also and it was her who taught me to read well before I started school. When I got words wrong she would write them on a piece of paper and tuck them inside the book. The next time we would read that book she would look at the list of words and tick them off if I could read them. A few years ago when I was going through some of my old stuff, I found those lists in some of the books. It brought back happy memories of sitting with her for hours getting lost in stories. It was also a sad memory as sadly she passed away when I was 14 and she missed a lot of the important landmarks in my life especially academic ones, many of which I believe I owe to her for starting my education so young.

There is nothing quite like getting lost in a good book. Books can take you anywhere and you can be anyone in them. You can use your imagination to picture the characters and settings in your mind, fall in love as the characters do, get scared when the characters do, solve the mystery as the characters do!!! Books can take you on a roller-coaster through the full spectrum of emotions and create worlds where anything and everything is possible. I also like the books themselves: the way they smell, the feel of the pages, the weight of them in your hands. Books can be beautiful and I truly believe they can have souls.

It is not just fictional books that I love. I love non-fiction books too, especially history books (encase you haven't guessed from previous blogs!). Between the pages of books the stories of the past are remembered and recalled. A well written book can even bring history to life. I strongly believe that the pursuit of knowledge is an important thing to do and something worthwhile to spend your life doing. Books are knowledge, and knowledge allows you to make informed decisions and to widen your mind and horizons. I love the English language too, especially the ways it can be used and played with. Of course it also irritates me when it is used incorrectly (although I am no expert and learning everyday!) or when someone tries to use "long" words to look clever and the words they are using don't actually mean what they think they mean!   Grrr!

I could go on and on, but I will resist! To put it simply I am the Book Worm and I love books!
Tatty bye!