silent friends

Ever since I was a kid I was a loner. Of course being an only child and painfully shy helped a lot in achieving this. While growing up I saw my parents read. A lot. One room in our apartment had a huge (when you're a kid everything is huge) bookcase, full of books. I didn't understand what it was all about, until I learned how to read. And that's when the miracle began.

It started with fairy tales (the classics - Hans Christian Andersen, brothers Grimm, Immortal fairy tales, 1001 Arabian nights), then I turned to Greek mythology (which I have read at least 5 times and know it by heart).

Books have always been a part of my life. Mind you, I was not an avid reader all the time. While in high-school, I was reading the novels we were studying either before or after learning about them - somehow being forced to read did not agree with me. It happened once, my grandma forced me to read 60 pages from the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn - to this day I haven't read it.

After high-school I discovered English literature. My first ever English book was "Little women" by Louisa May Alcott. I loved the cartoons, so I said I'll give it a go. The book is amazing - I know, it's not something a regular guy would read, but then again, I'm not a regular guy. That book opened a whole new world for me. I loved English since the 4th grade, and I felt that what they taught us in school was not enough. So, thanks to our city's library I was able to read a lot.

When I went to the US I bought a lot of books. They are my obsession. When I went the second time, my mom pleaded not to buy anymore (since they are heavy, etc etc). In 2004 I became a Harry Potter fan.  Before that I just couldn't comprehend all the commotion about this child-wizard, so going to Wal-Mart one night, I saw the first book and bought it on a whim. Reading it, I got more and more excited about what would happen next. Needless to say, I bought the other books as well. When the last book came out, it was already pre-ordered through amazon, and upon receiving it, read it in 14 hours.

My taste in books is varied. I enjoy reading fairy tales as much as reading novels by Garcia Marquez. The pages of a book make me forget about the world around me (up to the point that I almost missed my bus stop reading Twilight), with each word I travel alongside the characters (through the Alps with Heidi, through Vatican with Robert Langdon, through the desert with Wanda, etc), I discover new emotions and views of the world we live in. 

I made it my point to buy at least one book no matter where I go, but it has to be in English. Kind of snobish of me, but there you go. Since I travel quite often, a good book is a must in my bag - I even have a book in my everyday backpack and read on the bus if I have to, and you should see the looks I get. I decided to take this to the next step, and got the Harry Potter audio books. So now, I enjoy a leisurely stroll around the city while listening to the book. Nothing compares to that. 

Doing a head-count on books in my library, I've got almost to 200. And I'm sure there will be more.

And as a last thought - I love books so much, that I'm getting a tattoo of one this summer. Kind of crazy, but I'm sure I will never tire of it, and as long as my eyes will allow it, I will keep on reading! 

Books are my friends - they don't judge you, they don't fight, they are accepting and love you for who you are!