001 About...

Reading is one of my hobbies just like millions of people the world over. It is so simple to pick up a book, and float away on the words to a place that exudes more sparkle and magic than this place. That's not to say that my reading is motivated by a desire to escape, rather not to jump out but to dive in. I think much can be learnt from reading whatever the genre, because if it doesn't make you learn something new about yourself, it can help you appreciate the world around you better, and then there are those books which warm the heart whilst the snow falls outside. The trusty novel will never lose its place even with more contemporary ways to read, like staring at a screen with the words on or hearing them read to you in audio form. Although formats such as these can be convenient, I think that part of the experience is feeling the pages with your fingertips and lazily admiring your favourites on the shelf.

Growing up I enjoyed lining up all of my Famous Five and Wishing Chair stories on the shelves, as I added more books to my Enid Blyton collection. The magic of the Faraway Tree with Moonface and the Saucepan man sparked all of my childhood dreams and inspired my own creations. Then, I moved on to stories by Jacqueline Wilson and Meg Cabot and they accompanied me through my early teens. After that I found books at the library or the shop, by meticulously going through the alphabetically sorted shelves and inspecting each of the covers. Since then I read anything if the synopsis or the cover looks a bit interesting

So I had a look at "The Big Read" books (finding I had read just 17, you can see how you compare by viewing the first one here http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml) and picked up a basketful of summer reads. I basically want to explore the wealth of literary classics which I have not read yet, and find this a good place to start. Others are more recent and perhaps lesser known but are equally worthy of credit. At this point, I just want to say that to have the power to conjure and illuminate through words takes great skill, and to simply provide critique and commentary on this creation takes less art. Therefore, I will just present my thoughts and I think it will be fun to read and discuss together.

This week's book will be...

The Five People You Meet in Heaven MITCH ALBOM

Monday's child