Day #3

I'm happy to be alive today because of books.


I should say right now that I am a big fan of escapism. It is a wonderful thing to be able to disappear into another world for as long as you please (or, if you're the type of person who only ever reads a book once, as long as it takes until you finish that book), and to have something that you can rely on, in a sense, even if it 'make believe'.
That's not to say that I think you shouldn't ever do anything or fight for something in the real world, but I don't think that there's anything wrong with a little harmless immersing yourself into something fantastical and forgetting about all the problems that make you want to curl up into a little ball and cry (but why don't the unicorns love me, Mommy? Why?); even if it's just for a few minutes.
So, what I'm trying to get at in this very long-winded and probably very poorly worded meandering way is this: reading is fantastic. I've loved it for a very long time, and it actually makes me sad when I meet people who don't like to, especially when they have a valid reason (are exceptionally dyslexic, for example). Now, I know that I hate it with a passion when people say things like that to me ('ohh, you don't like spinach? That makes me so sad! I must make you love spinach!'), so I generally keep my mouth shut about it, and keep my apparently salacious love of books to myself (I should probably note here that I don't do anything salacious to my books, in case you got the wrong impression there.).
But I digress. My love for books knows few bounds (except autobiographical books, which for some reason I simply cannot find room for in my heart of hearts): reference books; fantasy (and many of its subgenres); science fiction; detective; romances that don't mean to be funny but which are secretly hilarious; cookbooks; I like pretty much most kinds of books.
Indeed: I am a shameless nerd.

I also have a slightly more secret reason why I love books: they are a very, very good distraction. And for someone for whom (ooh, more terrible wording!) clinical depression runs in the family, that is a very handy thing to have.
So I think it may even be fair to say that books have saved my life.

So if you'll excuse me, I think I have to go and say 'Thank you; I love you forever' to each and every one of my books. I may be a while.

In the meantime, enjoy yourselves!