As a reader, what do books mean to you? How have books impacted your life?

Opaline's love of books is what guides her through life, like talismans and passports of escape. As a reader, what do books mean to you? How have books impacted your life?

I learn so much from books. And, many times it transports me away from personal worries.

I cannot adequately express how vital books are to my existence and how profound an impact they have had and continue to have on my life. While I have made friends playing sports, serving on committees, working, etc, by far, I have found it easiest to bond with another human being over my love of books.

I learned to read quite early and as the very much younger 6th child, living in an isolated area my books were my very best friends. Before the days of the internet when I had a question I went to a book, when I was curious (all the time!), I opened a book; when I wanted to know how to spell a word or a definition, I opened a book; when I wanted to travel, I opened a book; when I was bored, I opened a book; and when I was lonely or sad or tired, I opened a book. I still do all these things - old habits die hard.

I was in my local independent bookshop the other day and the proprietress was talking with me about books, and how much I read. I explained to her I am blessed to have been raised in a home where there were enough books to suit any mood I had. I am further blessed to have created a home library in which I can still find a book to suit my any mood. I have books in about every room of my home. Shelves upon shelves and I sleep best in a room filled with shelves full of books. They make me feel calm and restful and yet eager and excited to slip them from their shelf and open to see what vast treasure I will find inside.

I travel with books as I can’t bear to even sit in a car and wait without reading material or heaven forbid stand in line without something to read. Any time I could be reading but am not is wasted time. I read one of my favorite books, Doris Kearns Goodwin Team of Rivals while waiting in carpool line, blessedly arriving early to extend my reading time. If I could safely read a book and ride my bicycle at the same time I would do so. I love books, to touch, to read, to smell to surround myself with. I just do.

Beautifully put gerrieb :)

It's almost impossible to say how much books mean to me. They stimulate me, teach me, take me on trips, challenge my thoughts about sensitive issues and give me a sense of peace. I have told my husband that my favorite days are the ones where I finish one book and get to pick the next. On long trips, books took up half my luggage, I've graduated to my Kindle but definitely have not given up real books. I can't imagine a world withoutbooks.

I work in publishing (children's books), so books are vitally important to me!
Ever since childhood, I have loved books and devoured them whenever I could. I remember being in the library until closing time many days, sitting in the middle of a pile of books, enthralled. I related to Opaline and her love of the physical side of books--beautiful illustrations, bindings, maps, cover art, etc.

Books have always been important to me. I love opening a new book, reading the first page and already bonding with the characters. All through the book the characters are my new best friends. Then alas when I read the last page I must say goodbye! Books have impacted my life. I am more compassionate, more learned. I am more empathetic and more knowing than if I had ever had the love of reading. Books are my friends in time of sadness, illness, stressful times and happiness. All times!

Books were my escape when I was a child. I was fat, with thick glasses and long, greasy hair from third grade until eight, and man, I suffered. My only respite was books, and I read non-stop. I feel very fortunately my parents encouraged that, buying me mountains of books from Scholastic every time the catalogue came out and taking me to the library often.

Books mean everything to me. A world without books is not worth living, in my opinion. Many times in my life books rescued me, books have been my dearest friends, books have brought me solace, books have made me laugh and cry and step out of my comfort zone, books taught me more than I ever learned in school about history, the world's people and places and centuries gone by. It's not merely the act of reading a book for me, but a process...each and every time. Studying the front and back covers, reading about the typeface and the Library of Congress cataloging, smelling the pages and admiring the book's simple beauty. And always, always, always an actual book - never, ever an e-book for me.

My childhood consisted of only the basics, food and clothes and shelter and very few toys. From a very early age I discovered books and the worlds locked within. The library was my very favorite place to go and I would take out armfuls of books each visit and then devour them. This continued through my teen years, and then off to college where English was naturally one of my majors. Throughout my married life (even when young children consumed most of my free time) I always had a book on my nightstand and my husband and I happily lined our walls with filled bookcases and got our sons addicted to books as well.

Now, I have a huge TBR pile threatening to topple over and the staff at my local library always chat with me (even though it is the age of self check-out) and I have my grandchildren totally captivated by books as well!

This quote is exactly what books mean to me:

“Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real.” -Nora Ephron

Books are my escape - they challenge me and take me to places and times I have never been. I cannot imagine my life without books.

Books have been friends all my life. The earliest book I recall loving was Mopsy Goes to Kindergarten and I still own my copy. I read so much as a child that my mother often had to beg me to put the books down and go outside to play. When I was about 11, the only thing I requested for Christmas was books and I received Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott, Trudy Phillips, New Girl by Barbara Bates and Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift. I was in heaven. I still have all of those books, also. Yes, my reading progressed to both deeper novels-Crime and Punishment in my teens which I fear I was too young to fully appreciate; romance novels for many years and, finally to a variety of genres though I tend to avoid overly violent crime novels. Reading has often helped me through personal difficulties and I feel it is a gift that is beyond all riches. I also love it that modern day advances have allowed those who have reading disabilities are now able to access books through audio means. I appreciate books in all forms and hope I will never lose the ability or opportunity to access them.

Books are an exquisite pleasure. I volunteer as the "library lady" for an organization called Pencils & Paper, which puts books into the hands of inner-city children. Teachers can come twice a year to "shop" for free. I love overhearing their conversations upon finding a favorite from their childhoods.

My story is a little different than many of the responses. I never really became a reader until my kids were grown and I had time to read, and now I can’t stop. My mother was a reader and role model and she and I had many wonderful book discussions before she passed. Now my son has inherited our reading gene. He finds time to read in his very busy life and we just spent an hour on the phone yesterday discussing books. I can’t imagine a life without books.

Starting with "Green Eggs and Ham," books have been an ever present, critical part of my life. They've been entertainment, knowledge builder, life saver, community connector, and never changing. When your life is upended, when people cannot be trusted, when you just need some quiet and concentration, when the world looks like it's about to implode (like right now), there are books.

Book reading is extremely important in my life. Books are my friends, a hobby, a tranquilizer, an education, enlightenment, instructional, a socializing advantage, and portable. I currently belong to 4 book groups, 2 Zoom, 1 live, and 1 online, counting Book Browse as the online one. Each group offers a different focus, one spiritual research, one social awareness, and two varied. It is educational and also self-discovering.

Books have always been a part of my life for both academic learning and for pleasure. I didn’t become an avid reader until high school but I’ve been reading great books and not so great books for decades.
I have insomnia, so I probably read more than the average person. I’ve learned so much from fiction and non-fiction. My family and friends have book swaps but I am also in two book clubs. My love for ready has taken me on many journeys and also given me great knowledge.Reading has definitely shaped who I am today.