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Books - A treasure trove like none other...

The feeling of the freshly bound book in your hands... ah! it's absolute bliss... It would be so exciting to have a room just for books.. a personal library... wooden flooring, wooden bookshelves, floor cushions and a cup of tea... even if I have only the library and none of the above, it wouldn't matter!

I devour my books, madly passionate about them and rightfully so. I don't think there's anything so intensely personal as the words written in a book. In so many ways, I connect to certain traits in various characters, and in so many ways, I learn and begin to understand.

Like of the characters, Sidda (The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells) who loves her books, I too feel, while reading a book, it is as if the author is talking personally to you. You are the audience for whom the play is staged. That realisation, that glory, and that joy is beyond everything else...

My mother has been instrumental in evoking this passion for books, she read them out to me when I was a child. Any my family is also very literary oriented... I still remember the My first book of 4,000 words, a lovely times series book which was based on a family and their respective activities. Then came the "read-along-while-listening" books... The sound of the lady saying "turn the page when you hear a sound like this (bell chimes)" is a memory of the fun I used to have.

Moving then to the Illustrated Classics where Charles Dickens and Jules Verne captured my imagination completely. I almost forget to mention one of my favorite books, Heidi - Johanna Spyri. I remember each situation so clearly and more so because years later, when I was in school, probably 14 yrs. old, the cartoon series had started on cartoon network. The cartoons were designed by a Japanese or Korean and it was in English... Oh! How much my mother and I used to adore watching it. We never missed the show! :)

Then came the glorious days of reading Enid Blyton... her descriptions of breakfasts, dinners, snacks and suppers left me always hungry giving way to my midnight snacks! Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and others followed soon...

Jeffery Archer's Prodigal Daughter was one of my most adored books for a long time. Her thoughts, her character and her will became a benchmark for me. I remember being fascinated by the thought that I too could one day learn so many languages and speak fluently in them. I then read a few Sidney Sheldons, but quickly started reading more diverse books, such as Arthur Hailey, John Grisham, and others...

It was in college that I first came across Ayn Rand. Her philosophy and words have connected to me like none other. Her thoughts and characters have etched in my mind an image of what is right and of what I believe in. The direction that her books have given me, has helped me in so many ways to find myself and to be able to understand and appreciate myself. I'm currently reading her first novel, We The Living and it is amazing to see how expressive she was right from the start.

I now read a variety of books and I desire to read much more...

The above is not just an account of what I like to read, but also a journey, one that has helped mold my thoughts and my life by my choices.

I hope that you too have found your connections with books and lives...

Comments

clickable said…
Thanks for reminding me of the Heidi animated series too. Thinking about it, I even perfectly remember the grandfather's face!
Shrinterest said…
can't choose to disagree one bit. However i've not tread the paths of so many epics in their own right, but always had, and will have 50% of my heart filled with my love for books. the other 50% for music. haha! was fortunate to read the prodigul daughter. absalutely was struck by its simplicity, and the depth of understanding, that it provides, especially the power of a woman's wish to achieve and succeed.
write on!!!
kooper said…
dear ayesha

recommended reading which beat ayn are The secret and The Prophet. While taggart railways are an obsession "here and now" is living a life of fun..empowering your selves to the extent where events, people and places gravitate to your aura to fulfill your visions and life goals. That is happy exploratory living where you lead change and events rather than chasing them them

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