My Relationship with Books

As long as I can remember I have a special relationship with books and an abundance of appetite for them. As kids we had our light curfew at 7 pm, this is when I start my “candle light” readings. Most of my books then had wax spots all over them. At school, I was board of the subjects they teach us; my escape was by hiding a book within a school book and read most of the day. During summer vacation I could spend 10 hours in a row reading just moving back & forth between bathroom & bed.

In a good book I would get so lost in; totally lose touch with reality in the sense that it is very hard to get my attention. I would have less motivation to work or sleep. I would be transferred to another world; to places I have not been to before, with characters I get involved with & grow feelings for. I could laugh out loud in public because I remembered something funny that happened in a book. I could cry in public because I felt the character pain. Sometimes at the end I feel as if I am saying goodbye to real people that I cared about or played a role in my life.

One of the direct effects of reading on my personality; is that I think in pictures not words. For this reason, most of the time movies based on books fall short of my expectations. And if I watch the movie before reading the book I am ripped of my own visualization.

By now I know my favourite things to read, but I still branch out from time to time. I never know when I might find a new favourite. One more thing, I don't collect books, its a shame to keep good books to myself, every couple of years I make sure I donate them to public libraries.

Books for me are a way to enjoy new views on life, to dream, to escape to far off places, to grasp more knowledge, to grow and to laugh.