Why I love books.

I love books. I always have. When I was in eighth grade I was reading four grades ahead. My senior year, I was reading at the level of a college sophomore. Books were and still are, an addiction to me. I always needed to get my fix. On Mondays, I would get to pick where we would go after school or swim practice. The local library was always first choice. All those books, just sitting there, waiting for someone to pick them up, take them home, and read what some soul had poured into them.

Books are great on the senses. Books smell like, to me, knowledge, love, power, and paper. The colors on the cover and the way whatever text chosen pops from the page, is like a masterpiece. The sound of complete silence and then a page turning out of no where is like a symphony. The feel of a page under your finger pads as you turn it is like a full body massage. I've never intentionally tried a book, so I can't tell you what they taste like. (haha) They stimulate your mind and help you form and educated opinion. They give you hope, form you as a person, they can even alter the way you think.

My whole life, books have offered comfort. Open pages, like arms, that say, "Here reader,  let me hold you so you can escape the world for awhile." They embrace you and lead you somewhere else. Somewhere else in time maybe? Another country? Maybe the ocean? Or perhaps, a completely different world? The day my birth-mother stabbed my birth-father in the hand, I was found under a bed holding my two little sister close and reading One Fish, Two Fish by Dr. Seuss aloud. I remember this vividly. My life has never and will never be easy, but books will always be here to offer me some comfort.

I sometimes prefer books to other people. Book don't judge you. They don't look at you and say, "That person is fat, useless, lazy, ugly, stupid, unloved, terrible, etc." Because books don't care. They're here to tell you a story. You get to judge the book. You get to say what you think of the book. Was it interesting? Well written? Was it any good? Did you like the characters? Who was your favorite? What would you change? It doesn't matter the question because you have the answer.

I know books aren't people and they don't have feelings. But, it may be strange, I treat them like they do. I have favorites. I make sure they're in good shape, comfortable, and not to worn out. I love books for everything they have done for me and think they deserve everything good.