An Ode to Being A Bookworm

Remember when that teenager went viral after his sister tweeted that he’d been teased for his love of books? I’m not gonna lie, that hit pretty close to home for me. I’ve absolutely always been a bookworm, and there were times I was teased for it too. Still, it’s a love affair that has lasted me a lifetime, and I don’t see it changing any time soon! Once a bookworm, always a bookworm!

From a very young age, I loved to read. I have very distinct memories of running errands with my mom, and we’d always stop in the book store. I’d bury myself in the children’s corner with a pile of books around me, and my mom would come running up, frantic that she’d lost me. I had a habit of wandering off in a bookstore… As I got older, I found solace and acceptance in books that I couldn’t seem to find among my peers.

THE CHARACTERS IN MY BOOKS WERE KINDER TO ME THAN THE KIDS I WENT TO SCHOOL WITH…

I’m sure I’ve mentioned that I was bullied and teased a lot in school. Always something of an outsider, I was an easy target. So I turned to my books. I’ve talked about my love of Harry Potter before, and it comes from a similar place. My books offered a place I could escape to, a vivid world so different from my own.

From a place of solace grew a genuine love of the written word that has followed me into adulthood. Books have this magical ability to lift you beyond the realities of your own life and into someone else’s. You have a moment to live that ‘what if’ just by picking up a book. What if this was my life? What if? Sometimes, you even find a little bit of yourself between the pages…

Reading is a part of my daily life. Every night before bed, I put my phone down in another room, and I curl up in bed with a book. It’s a brilliant way to finish the day and there is always a stack of books by my bed. Sometimes when I start a new book, I take a moment to just smell the pages.

THAT GENTLE SMELL OF A BOOK EVOKES A FEELING OF BOTH JOY AND POSSIBILITY.

And you know what else? It makes me feel free. I have a long running list of books I want to read. New books, classic books, silly books, poignant books. At the moment though, it’s about 30 titles deep? That doesn’t account for books I love and reread with regularity as well. I know some people don’t like rereading books, but I am definitely not one of them. These stories stayed with me for a reason, so why not return to them every once in a while?

I’ll share with you a few of my favorite books, that I reread every few years: The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen to name a few!

In addition to loving a good book, I also love sharing what I’m reading! While reading is definitely a solo endeavor, finding people who like the books you do too is pretty special. Social media is pretty wonderful in that regard, because people are always sharing what books they’ve loved. It’s a special kind of comradery we bookworms have. Every once in a while I like to send my books off to other people so they can enjoy them as well. It’s a special kind of comradery we bookworms have!

Books will always be special to me, and it’s one of the loves that I’ve genuinely had since I was a child. I was obsessed with my books…Did I ever tell you about the time I was grounded and I snuck out anyway because my favorite author was doing a book signing? Yeah, that’s how much I love books. I’ve never been more on brand, honestly…

So here’s to picking up a beautiful book and letting it whisk you away for a few hours! Once a bookworm, always a bookworm!