i cannot live without books.

some favorites (and the top three are on my list to read next)

this past summer my family and i visited thomas jefferson's home, monticello. it was beautiful and really amazing to learn about. jefferson lived such a fascinating life. on our tour, we went through jefferson's library and our tour guide told us about how, during a time of great financial difficulty, jefferson had to sell his huge collection of books. almost immediately afterwards he just started buying books again in large quantities. in a letter to john adams, jefferson simply explained, "i cannot live without books."

i wholeheartedly agree.

i really, really miss reading while i'm so busy with work and school. my roommates and i were talking last night about some of our favorite books and the books that we read as children. it made me so nostalgic and almost homesick in a way. i feel like the books i've read have completely shaped me as a person. i feel sad when i think about people who don't like to read. reading is such a rich and beautiful and multi-faceted experience. when you read a book, you're transported to another place and you meet people and have experiences that you would never have otherwise, and the great part is that you can share these experiences with other readers. when you read a book, it becomes a part of you. it touches your soul and your heart and your mind and alters the lens through which you see the world. i think that reading a good book is one of the most enriching experiences in the world.

i'm going to set a personal goal for next semester to make time to read. it's an important thing for me, and i think i feel so much happier and more like myself when i make reading a part of my everyday life. time management can be really difficult for me, but i'm going to make this happen. and you can bet when i go home for christmas i will be reading my brains out. (does that even make sense?)

basically this says it exactly: "real luxury is time and opportunity to read for pleasure." -jane brody

here's to books!