Lauren’s Library Nook: Falling In Love With Books

I wish I could remember the first chapter book I ever read – maybe it was one from the Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne or one from Lemony Snicket’s, A Series of Unfortunate Events. Either way, what started as learning to read quickly turned into a love for books that has not dulled in the slightest – even 12 years later.

I remember staying up past my bedtime hiding underneath the covers with a book and a flashlight, trying to finish up those last pages of a chapter. Or those unplanned snow days (way before virtual learning was around) where I sat in the living room with one eye watching the snow fall and the other a book resting in my hands. Or those monthly reading logs that were assigned in elementary school. Let’s just say I often doubled the required hours – for fun.

In elementary school, my class would take weekly trips to the library and check out books to read and take home. I always looked forward to those trips. While my friends chose new books each week, there was one that I simply could not part with: a book that talked about everything horse related.

As a little girl, that book was everything I could ever dream about. Each week, it was the one book that I always renewed. Every time I would read it again with the same excitement as if I never read it before. Although transitioning to middle school forced me to part with that horse book, I can still remember the setup of the pages and those moments of reading it on the school bus to and from school. 

What I’m trying to relay is the significance that books have had in my life. I wish there was a way to know how many books I have read thus far, but I am certain it has exceeded well over 100 – and I plan to never stop. 

These books have covered genres of all sorts – fiction, nonfiction, poetry books, fantasy, dystopian novels, self-help books and of course, my favorite, romance novels. 

Yes, I must admit I am a hopeless romantic who enjoys a predictable book about a guy and a girl who fall in love, ending the book on a happy note. I know real life and relationships don’t really work this way, but that’s the beauty books provide: a place where I can escape reality and dare to dream. 

It’s a way to take a pause from whatever is going on in my life and momentarily live through the pages of a book. I love to read because I can live vicariously through the lives of many different characters far different from myself. I can experience times in history that I wasn’t alive for, places in the world I’ve never been to, and situations I’ve never been in.

In the book, “The Fault In Our Stars” by John Green, there’s a quote that says, “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”

I find that this quote hits home with many of the books I have read. The impact they have made on my life is
significant. 

As time goes on, I hope to share some of these books with you and why they hold such a special place in my heart. They have not only made me a better reader but have also challenged and grown me as a person. Maybe you have already read them, maybe you will feel inclined to read them or maybe you have no interest at all. But I want to share with you a passion of mine that I believe God gave me for a purpose. 

Oh, and did I mention I read the ending of a book first? I know this might sound delusional and does not follow tradition, but it’s a habit I have kept over the years – one that many might say ruins the experience, but I just love spoilers.

Until next semester.  

SHANK is the editor-in-chief. follow her on Twitter