My Life with Books
Always have a book to hand
I don't think I can remember a moment in my life when I didn't have a book on the go, or at least access to books in some way or another.
If I don't have a book readily available I feel wrong, like there's something out of balance with my life. Do you know what I mean?
Don't get me wrong, I don't read every hour of every day - I do do other things! - but to not have a book around or not have something to read means something's not quite right...
I've enjoyed all types of genres over the years, from adventure and thriller to biography, poetry and factual books. I'm also finding that with the help of online writing, if I love a book I now have a way of sharing that with other people by writing reviews. I haven't done mountains of book reviews but, along with other types of internet pages, I plan on writing plenty more - as many as I can manage.
You can take a look at some of the ones I've done so far, but let me tell you a little more about my life with books...
I don't think I can remember a moment in my life when I didn't have a book on the go, or at least access to books in some way or another.
If I don't have a book readily available I feel wrong, like there's something out of balance with my life. Do you know what I mean?
Don't get me wrong, I don't read every hour of every day - I do do other things! - but to not have a book around or not have something to read means something's not quite right...
I've enjoyed all types of genres over the years, from adventure and thriller to biography, poetry and factual books. I'm also finding that with the help of online writing, if I love a book I now have a way of sharing that with other people by writing reviews. I haven't done mountains of book reviews but, along with other types of internet pages, I plan on writing plenty more - as many as I can manage.
You can take a look at some of the ones I've done so far, but let me tell you a little more about my life with books...
Where it all began
My mum is the one responsible for introducing me to reading, and though I don't remember the first book read to me, I understand it was from a pretty early age. I didn't have a lavish childhood in any way, but I was brought up reading and hearing great stories and learning as much as I could about life through them.
I also remember being taken to the local library on my bicycle by Mum and spending hours poring over the books. I'd find things that took my fancy and would then pull up a chair and start reading there and then. I had to make sure they were worth borrowing!
At home, I'd end up with several books on the go. There was nothing I enjoyed better than reading in bed before going to sleep, and I would get great joy from deciding which book I was going to read that night. I remember having, at one stage, ten different books on the go all at the same time, and I'd love to see all their spines on the bedside cabinet when I lay in bed and turned my head.
As a family, we used to holiday in the UK in countryside locations and I've been lucky enough to visit the Lake District a few times - the home of many a Beatrix Potter character and the setting for Swallows and Amazons - and imagine the adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the Famous Five in various idyllic rural places around the country.
As I got older, if we were lucky enough, we'd rent a self-catering cottage somewhere and, as well as taking a pile of books with me to read while we were away for a week or fortnight, one of the best parts for me would be exploring the cottage to find out what books were supplied by the owner of the place. One of my favourite books has been discovered this way - Maddon's Rock by Hammond Innes.
I also remember being taken to the local library on my bicycle by Mum and spending hours poring over the books. I'd find things that took my fancy and would then pull up a chair and start reading there and then. I had to make sure they were worth borrowing!
At home, I'd end up with several books on the go. There was nothing I enjoyed better than reading in bed before going to sleep, and I would get great joy from deciding which book I was going to read that night. I remember having, at one stage, ten different books on the go all at the same time, and I'd love to see all their spines on the bedside cabinet when I lay in bed and turned my head.
As a family, we used to holiday in the UK in countryside locations and I've been lucky enough to visit the Lake District a few times - the home of many a Beatrix Potter character and the setting for Swallows and Amazons - and imagine the adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the Famous Five in various idyllic rural places around the country.
As I got older, if we were lucky enough, we'd rent a self-catering cottage somewhere and, as well as taking a pile of books with me to read while we were away for a week or fortnight, one of the best parts for me would be exploring the cottage to find out what books were supplied by the owner of the place. One of my favourite books has been discovered this way - Maddon's Rock by Hammond Innes.
Why I love reading
For me books have marked the passage of time and remind me of stages in my life; from children's books and adventure stories to discovering authors like Douglas Adams in my teens and developing a lifelong love of science fiction and fantasy books, to discovering self-help books in a time of need and, as I got older, starting to read biographies to learn about others and their lessons on life.
I made a point of studying English literature at school because of a love of books and, though it didn't turn out to be quite what I'd hoped for, it introduced me to written material I would never have considered before and opened me up to reading more of the classics I might have missed. I don't suppose I would have read any Shakespeare if I hadn't done English lit.
I could sit here and write huge lists of books that I've loved and an even longer list of the ones I've read, but I won't... (There's a flavour of some I love at the bottom of this page.) I don't think there's enough time in my life to write reviews for everything I've read either - though I'd love to give it a go, but there's more to life than that.
Books and stories have given me so much in my life, I'll never be without them. I've learnt about good and evil, right and wrong. I've found out about escapism and being whisked away to other lands discovering the weird and the wonderful. I've read about other people's lives both incredible and subtle while coming to terms with and developing my own circumstances, thoughts and beliefs.
I'm sure you can tell I love books. I love the sight, smell and touch of them and there's so much variety. On some days, there's nowhere I'd rather be than surrounded by books and on others all I want to do is curl up and read a great one.
I guess my life with books has been my passion and I hadn't really realised this until now. I hope you love and enjoy good stories and books too. Tell me what you love below or take a look at the reviews section of the site...
I made a point of studying English literature at school because of a love of books and, though it didn't turn out to be quite what I'd hoped for, it introduced me to written material I would never have considered before and opened me up to reading more of the classics I might have missed. I don't suppose I would have read any Shakespeare if I hadn't done English lit.
I could sit here and write huge lists of books that I've loved and an even longer list of the ones I've read, but I won't... (There's a flavour of some I love at the bottom of this page.) I don't think there's enough time in my life to write reviews for everything I've read either - though I'd love to give it a go, but there's more to life than that.
Books and stories have given me so much in my life, I'll never be without them. I've learnt about good and evil, right and wrong. I've found out about escapism and being whisked away to other lands discovering the weird and the wonderful. I've read about other people's lives both incredible and subtle while coming to terms with and developing my own circumstances, thoughts and beliefs.
I'm sure you can tell I love books. I love the sight, smell and touch of them and there's so much variety. On some days, there's nowhere I'd rather be than surrounded by books and on others all I want to do is curl up and read a great one.
I guess my life with books has been my passion and I hadn't really realised this until now. I hope you love and enjoy good stories and books too. Tell me what you love below or take a look at the reviews section of the site...
At the bottom of this page you'll see some of my favourite books - Just a small selection but some of the books that over the years I've loved...
The first one on my list is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - I was lucky enough to meet him once and, as it's one of my best memories, I wrote about it - The Day I Met Douglas Adams.
The first one on my list is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - I was lucky enough to meet him once and, as it's one of my best memories, I wrote about it - The Day I Met Douglas Adams.
