As detailed in the post Falling in Love I have quite literally loved books my entire life. I enjoy reading children’s books to younger cousins, losing myself in fantasies, contemplating the future with science fiction and learning from the past with histories. And that is just the beginning. These blogs are examples of some of my favorite stories.
The Lost Years of Merlin and The Wheel of Time series represent my extreme love of fantasy. Life can be stressful, books are my escape. The difference between the two though is profound. T. A. Barron’s Merlin books epitomize those I enjoyed in my early teenage years (and still enjoy on occasion). The morals are clear cut, the adventures exuberating, and the descriptions enlightening. They are a relatively easy, light-hearted read, perfect for a brief break from school work. Robert Jordan’s fantasy on the other hand is extremely intense. These are the immensely entertaining, vocabulary expanding reads that expertly highlight the fine line between good and bad. Numerous tangled plot lines and not necessarily happy endings prevail.
Books like Team of Rivals helped instill my intense love for learning. Factual information delivered in story form. It doesn’t get much better than that.
I read for many reasons. To learn, to escape, to ponder my own values. I truly believe that stories have made me a better person by giving me so many different perspectives to look at life. Books are, in my mind, one of the most valuable things on Earth. Thomas Jefferson puts it quite simply, “I cannot live without books.”
