Bookaholics Anonymous

Hi, I'm Heidi and I'm a book addict. Whew. They say admitting it is the first step.

Welcome to my little space on the inter-webs. Nice to meet you. Let me tell you a little about me, why I'm here, and why you should give a damn.

I love books. I've always loved books, ever since I can remember. I was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by books. My dad worked for a printing company so he was able to bring home all kinds of books, all the time! Sure, they were typically marked with this funny stamp that said "REJECT", but I didn't care. Heck, I couldn't read it until much later anyway. I carried those "REJECT" books with pride, gosh darn it!! They often had such minor issues, I could rarely tell the difference. Lucky me, surrounded by books.  I couldn't wait to learn to read and was so proud when I finally read my first real book on my own, Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. It was also the perfect book for a tree-climbing tomboy like me! From there I guess you could say I became that quiet, shy, bookworm-in-the-corner. In fact, I think some family members actually called me that... actually they still might call me that. I'm not sure.

Anyway, growing up in a large, boisterous family there were always people around. Being one of the youngest, I sometimes just decided I'd retreat to my books where I could immerse myself in whatever was going on- sometimes a funny series of mishaps, sometimes a thriller, whatever. But more than the plot, I loved the connection with a character, or with a real historical figure. The sense I could really gain an understanding of another person's worldview and experiences, laugh or cry with him or her. I remember being fascinated by another's experiences. I remember the huge impact a book about Helen Keller had on me when I was young. Just trying to grasp a sense of what her world must have been like, then marveling at her courage, perseverance (or stubbornness), and accomplishment. I also remember the powerful "aha" moment I had when I read about her world opening up because she learned to read Braille. Man, I felt a bit of that when I opened a book too!

My love of books shaped my love of learning, of connecting with others both real and imagined through storytelling. Now that I'm "grown up", not much has changed. I still love books. I have them all over my house!  I have books I haven't even read yet. I use them stacked up as decoration, I've made a beautiful wreath out of book pages, and I've even made a faux taxidermied antelope head covered in pages of a book. More than decoration, books still offer me a quiet retreat or exciting adventure, a place to recharge my battery, to learn, to grow, to inspire. Charles William Eliot may have been onto something when he said:

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers."

So that brings me to why I'm here. Obviously, I love books. Hopefully you haven't missed that point. :) I'm reading all the time, I love being able to talk about books. Also, I used to blog and some days I miss it more than I thought I would. While that blog was about a lot of random things and mildly embarrassing stories about my life, this blog will be about bookish types of things. (Though I reserve the right to post about whatever the heck I want, it's my damn blog after all!). I'll post reviews, maybe rant about how Hollywood has destroyed another great book, and hopefully I'll even have a guest blogger or two! Yay!

If you're still reading this, I've probably piqued your interest at least a little. Or, you're a family member and you feel obligated to support me through another blog-venture. Either way, thanks for sticking it out so far. Going forward, I hope you'll stick around because you like books too. Maybe you're not as addicted as I am, but you read occasionally. Or maybe you just really want to read a couple of smart-sounding reviews every once in awhile so you can have a decent conversation with a coworker or that cute guy riding the Segue motorized vehicle thing in the parking lot. No matter, everyone is welcome here... unless you're going to post nasty, profane, derogatory or inflammatory comments, then you're not welcome. But pretty much everyone else is.

So put your best bookish Hermione Granger pants on and let's get started!