… could be for a lot of things. Like boulder. I mean, sometimes I seriously feel like ‘ole what’s-his-name, pushing a big ‘ole rock up a hill, only to get almost to the top and lose my footing, or my grip, and end up at the bottom, smooshed like a bug.

B could also be for blank, as in empty, like this box where I have to type this post for the #AtoZchallenge2014. Or an empty journal, or sketchbook, or new document in Microsoft Word that needs to be filled with information or a story.

B can also be for boredom, tho heavens knows I have way too much going on to ever experience that.

However, for today:

B is for Books

Of course! What else could it be, coming from me, the #bookwhore herself?

A few weeks before my 1st birthday, and already “reading”.

I mean, even before I could actually read, I was pulling books off the bookshelf, and (according to my mother), holding them properly, acting like I was reading, and then putting them back.  And that there ^^^ is the photographic evidence of my long-time love affair with books.

I distinctly remember being about 10 or 11, sitting in the sunshine on St. Thomas, holding a copy of The Secret Garden that I’d gotten out of the college library, the trees swaying above me… And being a kid and writing and illustrating my own little storybooks. …And, as someone who knew me in high school said, being the girl who always had her nose in a book.

Books are magical creations. They take us to new lands, whether they exist or not. Middle Earth, anyone? The planet where Dune took place, with its sand and scary creatures? Narnia (I have a first edition of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader that belonged to my mother. Aren’t you jealous?!?!?). England in 1965 (from a slightly decrepit book actually published in 1965, discarded by the Brunswick {GA} Regional Library, and happily snatched up by yours truly). Africa. Germany and the Holocaust. Outer space. Discworld (by one of my favorite authors, Sir Terry Pratchett). Newford, a place quite similar to our own, but with fantasy creatures (this series by my other favorite author, Charles de Lint).

Obviously, I could go on. And on. And possibly on.

Although I have nothing against e-readers (and am currently saving up for a Kindle Fire) (and have over 100 e-books in my Kindle app), there is truly something special about being able to hold a book in your hand. And a book that’s been around for a while, whose pages have gotten a little musty and have that smell like no other… Well…

Eventually, I’ll post my answers to the A to Z Book Survey, which has already been answered by three writer pals: R.B. Wood, alex kimmell, and Jeff Tsuruoka.

When I complete the survey, you’ll learn things like “Author(s) You’ve Read the Most Books Of”, the “Longest Book I’ve Ever Read” and my “Worst Bookish Habit”.

So there ya go: B is for Books. I still have no idea what I’ll write about for C tomorrow… any ideas?

PS. Don’t forget to visit the Baked Scribe by Chad Clark… today he wrote about a monster called “Baykok”, and Sound and Fury; apparently Paul is going to surprise us later with his take on the letter B.