Photo by Klim Sergeev on Unsplash
I don’t think I ever finished a book by reading with a flashlight under a cover, but I might have if I’d had a flashlight with batteries that lasted. When I was a kid, flashlights were more luxury than something on every shelf. Most of the time the one we did have seemed to always be lacking batteries and if they did have fresh batteries we were warned not to waste them. So a candle was often our flashlight in the dark. Can’t be reading under the covers with a candle. But I certainly read as much as I could before the lights were turned off.
Now as an adult I often sit up way too late reading just one more chapter. Some authors are expert at somehow ending one chapter with the words that just make you have to read that next chapter too. I’m always very complimented when a reader says one of my books has caused them to miss a little sleep.
“That I can read and be happy while I am reading, is a great blessing.” ―
I have a couple of bookcases and obviously need more since I also have books stacked here and there and piled on those bookshelves in a far from neat way. I shouldn’t show you how messy I am, but I just have so many books I want to keep in case I suddenly have several extra hours every day to read. And then some of the books were just so fine that I want to keep them forever. You may notice that black furry guard at the bottom. The bottom of that bookshelf is one of Frankie’s favorite places to lay. You might also notice that the top shelf where I have my books is a bit neater. 
“The odd thing about people who had many books was how they always wanted more.” ― The Bell at Sealey Head
And I do love libraries too. I just listened to an audio book, Because of Winn Dixie, I borrowed from the library through Libby. What a gift to have libraries in our towns to make books available to any who what to take advantage of that blessing. The book I’m editing that will be out next summer centers around what a library can mean to a community that has never had books available to them.
“Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.” ―
I owe a lot to libraries. Without all my trips to the library, I don’t think I would have been able to write the books I have written. I’ve absorbed words from books I’ve read. I’ve researched historical events. I’ve searched through the book stacks and found inspiration. The books I’ve read have been seeds in my imagination to sprout new ideas for my own stories.
“Cram your head with characters and stories. Abuse your library privileges. Never stop looking at the world, and never stop reading to find out what sense other people have made of it. If people give you a hard time and tell you to get your nose out of a book, tell them you’re working. Tell them it’s research. Tell them to pipe down and leave you alone.” ―
I totally agree with Jennifer Weiner’s quote. Everything I read is research in a way. All those classics I read while in high school fed words into my head and the vision of how they were used to bring stories to life. My dad many times used to tell me to get my nose out of a book, but I never did for long. While I would have never told him to pipe down and leave me alone, I simply did whatever chores I might have been neglecting and then stuck my nose in my book again.
“Books aren’t interested in who is reading them… A book will welcome any reader; any age, any background, any point of view. Books don’t care if you can’t understand every word in them, or if you want to skip bits or reread bits. Books welcome everyone who wants to explore them, and thankfully no one has ever worked out a way to stop that.”
― Tilly and the Lost Fairytales
Books are there for everyone. Books are easy to buy online, in bookstores, in the corner drugstore or grocery. I met a man at a book signing once who embraced the title of book lover. He said he had books in his kitchen cabinets because he’d rather have books than food. Books do welcome any and all readers. Books don’t care if we don’t know how to pronounce words. We can still read them. We can still get the meaning for them from reading the words around them. And then we do have dictionaries. Books don’t discriminate. Any reader is welcomed into the book’s pages.
I’m happy when a reader decides to accept the invitation of my books with their lovely covers and decides to give my stories a try. If I could talk for my books at that moment, I’d tell those readers, “Welcome. Come on in and start down my story trail.” I’d be glad they entered my story world, and I’d hope they would stay awhile. Then if the clock said bedtime and they needed to read just one more chapter, I would know I’d done my job.
“Life is just a series of obstacles preventing you from reading your book.” ―
Do you have a stuffed bookcase or a towering “to be read” pile? If so, what’s next up for you to read?