Bookworm, I'm a bookworm

[agt_spooky]

John and I are still doing our spring cleaning and yesterday I came across my favorite bookmark, which I thought I'd lost, but it had simply slipped between some pieces of paper on my desk.

Anyway...why is this my favorite bookmark, you ask? It's nothing fancy. Just light blue with a simple yellow flower on it that I got for free at a bargain bookstore many, many years ago. What made it my favorite was the quote that was written on it...

"To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life." - W. Somerset Maugham

I was really struck by those words, because for me, that's completely true. I've used books since I was a child to escape from real life for a little while. To forget my troubles and go on an adventure with the characters in the pages.

What about you? Does that quote ring true for you, too? Or has reading never been about escaping, but just pure enjoyment? Do you have a favorite quote that pertains to reading?

Comments

[audreyava.livejournal.com]

A proud bookworm here as well:) As long as I can remember books were always my window to the world. Yes, they help me escape; I can forget everything else and just go along on an adventure with all the characters!

I love that quote; it's so beautiful! And it rings so true for me as well. Doesn't matter what kind of mood I am in, a good book always makes me happy, it brings a sort of peace.

One of my favourites is this one by an anonymous speaker: "Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book."

[caritas2008.livejournal.com]

Yeah for me Books are a way of escaping like when i am ill i nearly always read the books about the faraway tree can't help it they were my favourite books when i was a child

Also i love books that are about working for magazine as that is what i always wanted to do when i grew up but my literacy was never good enough also if it is anything like the books i couldn't take the bitchiness for long

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

Yeah for me Books are a way of escaping like when i am ill

Same here. I was ill for many, many weeks once when I was a teenager and if I didn't have my books I would've gone crazy! :-)

?i nearly always read the books about the faraway tree can't help it they were my favourite books when i was a child

Hey, I'm nearly 40 years old and I still read The Hardy Boys! Started when I was a kid and I still love the adventures of Frank and Joe. :-)

also if it is anything like the books i couldn't take the bitchiness for long

Ha! So working in the literary world might not be the best sounding job in the world, eh?

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

A proud bookworm here as well:) As long as I can remember books were always my window to the world.

Yay! Bookworms unite!

Yes, they help me escape; I can forget everything else and just go along on an adventure with all the characters!

Exactly! I mean, I'm never going to physically go to space, or travel back in time, but I can when I read!

Doesn't matter what kind of mood I am in, a good book always makes me happy, it brings a sort of peace.

I couldn't agree more. There's just something about losing yourself in a book that's so relaxing.

One of my favourites is this one by an anonymous speaker: "Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book."

Oh, I love that! So many people don't read and I'm like, do you realize what you're missing??

[digitalwave]

When I was a little girl I had a pretty noticeable speech impediment, one requiring speech therapy for the first three years I was in school. And, kids being kids, it made it kind of rough at times until I learned how to control it. Books were my friends and my escape during that time and my love to read continues to this day. All in all the trade off was more than worth it because it helped make me who I am today. :)

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

Aww, what a nice story, sweetheart. :-) I'm sorry you went through a rough period there but I'm glad you found a way to cope. And I'm glad you kept reading even after you'd gotten through it! I think it's fascinating to hear about how people came to love reading. So many people don't read and I'm like, do you realize what you're missing??

[greenwoman.livejournal.com]

Books were an escape for me, but that was just a part of it. They were also a way for me to learn about the world, when I returned to it, and how to cope with it. Most of the moral code I have had through my teenage and adult years came from The Lord of the Rings, and Stranger In A Strange Land. I have also mostly preferred non-fiction to fiction, and so read hundreds of biographies and history books while growing up.

So: escape, education, moral compass. That's what books have always been for me.

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

Books were an escape for me, but that was just a part of it. They were also a way for me to learn about the world, when I returned to it, and how to cope with it.

Wow…I'm always amazed at hearing about the power books have for people. :-)

Most of the moral code I have had through my teenage and adult years came from The Lord of the Rings, and Stranger In A Strange Land.

I, too, believe reading starting at a young age helped shaped me into the person that I am. There's an awful lot of good role models in books!

I have also mostly preferred non-fiction to fiction, and so read hundreds of biographies and history books while growing up.

Even though I rarely read non-fiction books, I do feel like I've learned a lot about history, etc through fiction books set in the 1800's, etc.

So: escape, education, moral compass. That's what books have always been for me.

You can't ask for more than that! :-)

[samazon13.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a big Me Too on this one! Those two books formed a lot of my morality, and then when I saw the first Star Wars movie, I had the missing piece to drop into my world view.

Growing up, I too would fall into a book so hard, I wouldn't hear anyone calling my name. I used to climb up into trees and read there, so my Mom had a devil of a time bringing me in to dinner!

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

Star Wars! I was six years old in May of 1977 and I begged my dad to take me. Surprisingly, he did. I don’t think he knew what a major impact that movie was going to have on me. :-)

It’s a darn good thing we didn’t have a tree worth climbing in my backyard or my parents never would’ve found me. :-)

[trillian276709.livejournal.com]

What a fantastic quote and it resonates with me too. When I was smaller I was having to be physically pulled out of my books. Calling my name never worked, teachers and family had to put a hand on the book or shake me slightly to get me out of one world and back into another. :)

I am also convinced that I'm going to be a crazy old person who still insists on a paper book. Reading on a screen will never be quite the same for me. Heh.

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

When I was smaller I was having to be physically pulled out of my books. Calling my name never worked, teachers and family had to put a hand on the book or shake me slightly to get me out of one world and back into another. :)

That sounds just like me! LOL! Even now I drive my husband nuts because I get to reading and stop paying attention to everything around me. :-)

I am also convinced that I'm going to be a crazy old person who still insists on a paper book. Reading on a screen will never be quite the same for me. Heh.

While I enjoy reading fic on my ebook reader, it will never replace an actual, physical book. And it makes me sad that places like Borders are going out of business because people want everything electronic now. :-(

[ann-tara.livejournal.com]

What about you? Does that quote ring true for you, too?

Absolutely true, a perfect quote. I've always loved to read, and we're surrounded by books in this house. So many that I periodically have to weed through them to give to the library or Good Will in order to make room for more - and yet, I almost hate doing it. Even books I ended up not liking seem still to have their place; but if we didn't "spring clean" on a routine basis to include the bookcases, we'd end up on an episode of Hoarders or something. ;)

I love how reading expands one's mind - I honestly don't believe, for instance, that FOX News is aimed at people who read - as well as the sheer literary value of the habit. But, it is also very true that during times in my life when I've been most down, especially in recent years, I've found my appetite to read to increase because it is the simplest, cheapest, and safest way to escape. Reading is my drug of choice. :)

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

I've always loved to read, and we're surrounded by books in this house. So many that I periodically have to weed through them to give to the library or Good Will in order to make room for more

I would love to be so surrounded by books. :-) I mourn the loss of a lot of my books. My parents house was small, so I only had one bookcase so I could only keep my most favorite ones. And even after I got married I haven't lived anywhere large until this house. So now I have THREE bookcases. :-)  I often envy the houses you seen on HGTV who have built in bookcases.

I love how reading expands one's mind - I honestly don't believe, for instance, that FOX News is aimed at people who read - as well as the sheer literary value of the habit.

I really feel sorry for people who don’t read. Do they not realize what they’re missing??

But, it is also very true that during times in my life when I've been most down, especially in recent years, I've found my appetite to read to increase because it is the simplest, cheapest, and safest way to escape. Reading is my drug of choice. :)

I have to laugh at the drug comment. Sometimes I lament at how much I spend on books, but my husband is always saying it’s better than me buying drugs. :)

[bluewolf458.livejournal.com]

The fiction world inside my head has often been more real to me that the real world... and once my head is buried in a book, a bomb culd go off under me and I wouldn't notice.

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

and once my head is buried in a book, a bomb culd go off under me and I wouldn't notice.

Oh, so true! I used to drive my parents, and now my husband *g* insane with how I stop paying attention to anything around me when I'm reading. :-)

[morganslady.livejournal.com]

Love the quote.. I also used books as an escape as a child,since for me alot of RL activities were difficult.

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

Your friends may have been playing baseball, but you were busy traveling through space or riding horseback in the wild west. :-)

[khek.livejournal.com]

Books are my Life! Er, kind of literally. :)

I don't even dare tell you how many I own. On my bookcases, in boxes in my basement, my attic, my parent's attic, my parent's barn, my sister's storage shed...

(And that doesn't count the 3,000 (approximately) I buy each year for work...)

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

Books are my Life! Er, kind of literally. :)

LOL! I was wondering if I'd see a comment from you on this topic!

I don't even dare tell you how many I own. On my bookcases, in boxes in my basement, my attic, my parent's attic, my parent's barn, my sister's storage shed…

You could start your OWN library! I mourn the loss of a lot of my books. My parents house was small, so I only had one bookshelf so I could only keep my most favorite ones. And even after I got married I haven't lived anywhere large until this house. So now I have THREE bookcases. :-)  I often envy the houses you seen on HGTV who have built in bookcases.

(And that doesn't count the 3,000 (approximately) I buy each year for work…)

You've got the best job any bookworm could want! :-)

Certenely

[winchesterwoman.livejournal.com]

A good quote. But, I don't read books :O hahaha! I think the only ones that I have read because I wanted to, and because I desesperately wanted to read, was Harry Potter!, Of course I have read many books, that I was obligated to do. But, Instead of that I like to watch movies, or do something else to scape from this world. And, nope, I don't have a quote. :S

Re: Certenely

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

You don’t read just for the fun of it?? Say it isn’t so! There’s a whole world out there, in the pages of a book, that you should experience! You don’t know what you’re missing!

Nay nay

[winchesterwoman.livejournal.com]

You don’t read just for the fun of it?? Say it isn’t so!

-Look. The problem is that, I don't look what books are on the shelf in a bookstore or a shop where books are sold. Because,here, in my country there is not good stories. There are more about how to be a good person, about politics, how to be a good parents, and I don't know what more. But, there are not too much books about stories, and if there are, they are too bad for me. the stories are grotesque, ugly, or only sex. Stories that I don't like a thing. Could be a good ones or "good" ones. And, welll, what if I buy a book and later I don't like it? I don't want to spend money in something that I am not sure if i like or not.


There’s a whole world out there, in the pages of a book, that you should experience! You don’t know what you’re missing!

hahahahaha!!!! Maybe the books over there, are better thhan the books that exist over here.

Re: Nay nay

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

Well that’s just really sad that you don’t have a good selection of fiction books in your country. :-( Can you order from Amazon? Or another online book site? And sure, it’s a chance buying any book, that you might not like it. It’s happened to me more than once. But the number of good books has far outweighed the bad ones. You should ask on your LJ for book recs - romance or sci-fi or mystery - whatever you’re interested in. That way you can get other people’s opinions before you buy!

[winchesterwoman.livejournal.com]

Well that’s just really sad that you don’t have a good selection of fiction books in your country. :-(


---I think, it is because here, the people don't read! the mexican don't read books, if they read they would read one book a year! Of course for pleausre, if they have to read it on school it is because they have to, in order to pass an examen,and some times even that, they tell someone to tell the books and do what they have to do without read it :P And the other books tend to be from other countries except here. And well. I am not like, oh, the review of this books sounds good, let's buy it. na na na. I don't like buy things without know if they are goor or bad or know how they are writeen. Besides, I don't read them twice ha! the harry potter books I have read them just once, and I am so lazy to read them again, and I have them because of all the sensation of them, not because I wanted at the begging ot read them.


Can you order from Amazon? Or another online book site?


The other thing is that I can't read books in eglish! I am not good on it. I have the harry potter's book in english, ( the originals, from Uk) but haven't read them! I don't understand them! they are a little but complicated! So a normal book is very hard to read in english to me.

It’s happened to me more than once. But the number of good books has far outweighed the bad ones.


---You are lucky! But, you know. Just I am not that into read books, maybe for that, because there are not good one and If I can't read them to take them a look, then I won't buy them. I don't want to spend money in something that I don't know how they are.


You should ask on your LJ for book recs - romance or sci-fi or mystery - whatever you’re interested in. That way you can get other people’s opinions before you buy!

Oh hahaha! my Lj is not that longer as yours! I just have you and three people who post regularly. One girl usted to post books, but again, I prefer movies than books hehehehehhe!!!! unless the phenomeon for those books reach me and then.. read them...not buy them. I read twilight books, but never buy them, no no what a disgusting thing. But harry potter was another world! just it was super duper great!

Anyway, they are a bunch of factor...no good books in spanish, no want to spend money in something that I don't know, and prefer watch than read :P