For the love of a good book

      Reading your favorite book is like seeing a good friend that has been lost to you for years.  You may know every twist and turn of the story, but still you read it again because it makes you smile, it makes you cry and it gives you hope that somewhere there is a happy ending. And that often happy endings are the ones that make you cry the most.

Camomile and honey while reading in the rain

      My favorite book may not be the most well written book ever, still, it's a story that just keeps bringing me back.  And the book . . . the book is a bit worn.  Her binding has been broken, loose pages that are taped back in are worn from bring worried away as my fingers twitched to turn the the next page, and stained from tea, coco and any other things imaginable. The pages are dog eared and I can hear the sounds of the characters voices in my head even when I'm not reading it. 
      Many people would be upset at the treatment of my book, and while that is not the point of this post, I can understand the upset.  I sometimes wish I had taken better care of it, but every time I pick it up I am reminded of how much I enjoy it and just how much it means to me just the way it is.
      All my life I have loved a good story.  When I was young my parents would read to me: I especially loved it when my dad would read books from the land of Serendipity or some Mark Twain.  When I got older I always had a book in hand.  I fully admit, i wasn't always reading the most involved books and Fantasy books are definitely my guilty pleasure. This book, Wizard of the Grove by Tanya Huff found its way into my hands sometime during high school and I've read it at least once a year since.  I cherish the friends I've made in the characters, and I weep for them in their pain, and share in their joys.