A Dose of Something Wonderful

Something wonderful has happened.

We have a new community library.

It's filled with brand new books, children reading to their parents and adults checking out something new and exciting or old and familiar. It's run by our community, for our community and dammit that kindness and generosity makes me well up.

I've had a pretty crappy month so far and this big dose of wonderful has me feeling blessed and a little weepy.

I love books, I always have. When I was a child I was put to bed early, not because I refused to eat cauliflower cheese, but so that I could read before I fell asleep.

Some of the best nights sleep and worst migraines I have ever had have been from staying up until my eyes wouldn't open reading my latest good book.

I've never bent a page, I don't stuff them onto book shelves hither and dither and never has a book in my possession been ripped or damaged. I was raised to treat books the way small children treat their favourite cuddly toy; as your best friend.

And so many books have been good friends to me and whenever I'm in a library or bookshop I look out for them, my heart swells as I see their titles and my brain thinks 'this place, this is a good place to find your next book'.

I should clarify that when I say book, I mean paper. I mean sticking your nose right in there and smelling the print. Being the first to emboss gentle lines down the spine and that struggle with those huge hardbacks that just won't sit right in your lap.

I don't commute, when I travel I knit and when I pack I pack as if I might get stuck on a desert island with just these books for comfort. I am anti-kindle, for me not for you. I like to hold pages, skip to check how long I have left with these wonderful friends and my bookmark is just too lovely to retire.

So which books did I check out today?

• Simple Sewing with Lola Nova, Alexandra Smith
• Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
• The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas
• Season of Light, Katharine McMahon
• The Lucky One, Nicholas Sparks
• The Descendants, Kaui Hart Hemmings

And I can't wait to get stuck in. Perhaps I'll find a new best friend amongst these pages just like so many times before.

I really hope so :)