If you have a book ....

... you have a friend.  I remember my Aunt Penny telling me that at a young age.  I can also remember eagerly awaiting packages from her ... all the way from New Zealand, often book related.  I hope that I am passing on that similar tradition and memory with my nieces & nephew.

I have always been an avid reader.  I won a reading award in Grade 6 and in junior high school, I was asked to participate in a speed reading course the school was testing.  It worked. I could average 3-4 novels a week in my transit commute via bus, subway and train in my first 8 years of taking mass transit.  In some ways those were the good 'ole days - BT  (before technology).  A train ride = book reading ... no cell phones, no laptop computers, no iPads.  No matter what happened in the workday, I had already racked up some "me" time.

Like many young girls (of my vintage) I started out reading Nancy Drew mysteries.   The Secret of Shadow Ranch and the Password to Larkspur Lane amongst favourites.   So all these years later it's not surprising that mysteries are still my favourite genre.  I am fortunate that my mother shares the same love of mysteries and affinities for the same authors, which leads to "what did you think when ..." discussions and eagerly awaiting the next Elizabeth George novel together.

I still love a "real" book - turning the pages and actually seeing how much farther you've got to go before all is revealed.  And while I appreciate that eReaders are very handy on vacation to lighten the luggage load, I think I will always have a stash of mags and at least one paperback on board with me.

I love that you can immerse yourself in a book and truly escape. Just writing this blog makes me think I need to carve out more time for reading again.  I used to read before bed, but as I get closer to the 50 mark I'm lucky if I don't fall asleep before I hit the pillow... lol

Here's to a little more escapism...at any age !