World Book Day

World Book Day. What a day to celebrate. Could you imagine not having a book? It is something I really can't imagine.  However, in saying that I know,  I am privileged to be living in a country where books are readily available.

In fact, I can walk down the road for about twenty minutes and be welcomed into the Public Library. Or I can walk in the other direction for about 30 minutes and come across another Public Library. If I take another route for again about a 30-minute walk I come to a recycling centre where there are free books.

I was brought up with a love of books. Mrs. Collins my fourth class teacher really instilled in me a love for the written word. As she often said "the world opens up to you through each and every book you read".As the American novelist, George R.R. Marin wrote " A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies....The man who never reads lives only one".

My favourite book has changed as my life has changed. I used to love reading "Anne of Green Gables" by L. M. Montgomery.  The "Chalet School Books" by L. M. Brent-Dyer allowed me to fly to Austria. When I finally visited Austria it lived up to everything I had imagined. Middlemarch by George Eliot strangely led be to the Jane Austen books which I must admit I still enjoy.

I could continue but there are so many books which through the years became my companions and saw me through difficult times that I could never possibly name them all. I hope you have has the privilege of enjoying the wonder of books.