books.

I love books. Seriously. I love books.

I love the way books smell. I love the way the way they look with their hardcover spines beckoning you from the shelf.  I love that they took work and that a piece of the author is in them.  Books are no easy feat I imagine.

I love how books take you to another world, how they teach, encourage, strengthen and inform you.  You can pick up a book and travel to another country, to a made-up country, to someone's life, to someone's wishes, into someone's sorrows and even into their wildest dreams.

But it doesn't stop there.  By experiencing books you yourself can be changed.  Your dreams can reveal more about who you are and what you were made to do.

Books are so ingrained into my brain that I wanted my wedding pictures to include the bookshop where my Dad used to work and where I could get lost in the aisles of the books that smelled slightly like brown pages and love-worn covers.  If you don't know what that smells like go to your used bookstore, take a deep breath and enjoy the sweet smell of hard-covered confectioneries. (And yes, I realize bookstores carry paperbacks. And I own and am not opposed to paperbacks but I just loooove hard-covered wonders!)

Books. Books. Books.

I'm naturally full of books in my brain because Mikey and I "joined" our local library.

I am ashamed to admit that the last time, I can recall, being at a library I used it for naptime.  I lived off campus and the library was on campus.  It was also the only place of campus to be guaranteed silent.  I would snuggle up on a love seat and snooze till my next class.  Of course, I used the library for studying. But I was more likely to be chatting with my friends and since chatting is frowned up at the University of Iowa's main library, I was better off just going to a coffeeshop.

So here I returned, to the local library and man, talk about being a fish out of water!!  Do libraries still use the Dewey decimal system? Remember those film strips? I remember that Dewey was a worm, right? Oh, gosh, I guess he's a worm in my memory.  I remember we had to watch how the libraries are arranged and set-up in elementary school probably to avoid youngsters trashing the place.

When I walked through the door I felt like that elementary student again, I seriously felt so ridiculous. I was secretly hoping they'd give us a tour or orientation or something to help me figure out where to even start in the library.  Alone I thumbed my way through different subjects and titles, perused the magazine aisle and dvd section, made my way across the computers and ended up finding, on the way out the door, the crafting section.

So many options.  I can visit so many places and people for free at the library.

But now I'm at a loss.... so because I have a library at my disposal I would like to ask you....

What book or books would you recommend reading?

I'm eager to dig my way through the dewe... I mean the computer system and find some books.  I'll take old classics or new treasures. I'll take fiction or non.

Got any book recommendations?