You don’t have to crack the spine to read a book. I’d prefer you never crack it at all. If given the opportunity and GIFT of holding a brand new book in your hands, simply open it, fan through the pages a couple of times and gently bend the front and back covers 90°. That’s all that is necessary for breaking in a new book.

Now, once you’ve chosen your new book, or it has chosen you, as is so often the case, you just open it up and get to reading. My preference is to be in a chair I can nest in, with my water and chapstick nearby, under a good light. I plan to stay awhile. I don’t want to be sidetracked, so I don’t have my phone near my person.

I might even bring snacks.

And then I’m whisked away, often to the Lowcountry, but sometimes my Book Club forces me out of my comfort zone and I have to read about the poor women in Kabul, or tribes in Africa two hundred years ago. Sometimes I don’t read about people at all. The best part about reading is there are no rules. Whenever I meet someone who says they don’t like to read, after I swallow my disdain and overall nausea, I quickly ask them about their interests. And guess what? People always enjoy reading something, whether it be local interest stories in the newspaper, or articles about celebrities in People. Magazines are for readers, too! Lots of men like to read manuals. Not everybody is into Dickens and Shakespeare and Tolstoy. Read what you like! I wish that high schools and colleges would require some casual reading as well as the required literature so students wouldn’t be left with such a bad taste in their mouth. Like coffee. I didn’t think I liked coffee, but I’d only had it the one way: black. And it turns out, if you put enough sugar and hazelnut flavored creamer in it, it is actually quite delicious! So now I can be one of those fanatics that drink coffee. You just have to find a flavor you like. Same with books. It’s important to find authors and genres you like. I enjoy WWII fiction and non-fiction, both, but I also have to have some chick lit and fantasy to set it off. And I will never be too old for animal stories. I came upon the greatest little book one time for only a dollar at the Dollar General.

https://amzn.to/2RLIXF2 <<<that’s the Amazon link to buy your own. If WordPress wasn’t such a pain in my ass, it would let me show you a picture, but clearly that is too much to ask of a blog that costs me several hundred dollars a year.

Anyway.

This is why I read, because you can’t put me out in social situations without things grating on my nerves and I have to tell everybody all about it. I’m better off being left to my own devices. This was discovered at an early age.

Here’s a link to some, but by no means ALL, my favorite books. https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/33427814-amy?shelf=my-very-most-favorites 

You probably have to be a member of Goodreads to see them. And you SHOULD be on there, Goodreads is like Facebook without the drama and garbage! I highly recommend it! I only wish I had found it sooner. I’m such a nerd that for years I had a three ring binder with a list and short review for every book I’d read. Now I don’t have to keep up with that and I can go back and edit what I’ve written without it looking all messy.

So. Back to my favorite subject, books. I can’t get enough. I beg you to read. It’s a wonderful way to relax and pass the time. You can read ANYWHERE and it won’t be frowned upon. Except maybe funerals. However, I encourage you to read at mine, if you’d like. I approve. Just leave your dern phone in the truck. And even if you’re reading crap fiction, you’re learning something. You’re reading about a character who lives somewhere you’ve never been and has different interests than you. As I always say, in every bit of fiction, there is always some truth. And best of all, books are FREE. Oh yes. You didn’t think I could talk about books without reminding you of the castle in every town, the crown jewel of all government funded services, the LIBRARY. ***My heart, my heart, my heart***

Go now, dear reader, crack a book and drift away.