To All My Book Lovers...

If you were asked to mention a book you wish to read all over again like it were the first time, what book would you pick?

I’m sure if I were asked that question, I’d need like a few minutes to think and properly get into it, because, my word! There would be a chaos.

But I think of the very first book I read on Wattpad, as a teenager. “Chasing Red.” Isabelle Ronin, is the author or so....(it’s been so many years, but something tells me I got the author’s name right). Some things just stay with you, I suppose. I remember sneaking my parents’ blackberry phones at night to see if I could read yet another chapter. I’d get lost in the pages, and how scintillating yet terrifying the concept of love was.

I think of yet another Wattpad book. One that’s now been turned into a movie, and interpreted properly, or maybe bastardised, depending on how you look at it. I remember reading it years before people even felt it was popular enough to be considered movie-worthy. I remember feeling emotions so raw, I nearly spiralled out of my orbit. I hated every moment of it, but yearned for it like a thirsty man in a sun-baked desert. "After" by Anna Todd. I will never forget you.

I think of one of the last books I read just as I was clocking adulthood, which significantly marked the end of my time on Wattpad. When I opened the first page of "Storm and Silence" by Robert Thier, I didn’t know what to expect. It completely blew my mind, however, that what I expected and what I did not expect all came to play in the glorious of ways. It’s still the wittiest series of all time, as far as I’m concerned, and for one who once never found books written by men worthy of note, I prayed every day to be like the day I stumbled on that majestic series. Someday, when the intricacies of the Law are not quite fascinating, I’ll delve again into this book, and I’ll tell you all about it. Line by line.

Away from Wattpad, and even though I’m sure I have a dozen more of books like these, I think of "Perfect" by Judith Mcnaught. Book was over 800 pages, but I finished it in a single night. I could not eat, I could not sleep. It was that era of my life I hope to get back to again, where books were my life, and that was all I needed to be happy and fulfilled. I think of the peace in the chaos, the bliss in the storm, the ray of light in the infinite dark that more or less overwhelmed that book. I think of each tear I shed, and how, even with the heartbreak, I’d easily give a limb to relive that moment. All these moments. Like it was the first time.

Saying all of this because judging by UTC standards, today is still the international day for Book Lovers, and nothing makes me happier than the chance to celebrate people, who like me, have found bliss in the storm that is books. You are seen. You are loved. You are everything, and a bit more. I hope you always find joy when you seek it in books, and pain too, if that’s what your heart desires. Or maybe a delicious blend of both, which is something I’d never turn from. Solace like no other, and excitement incomparable. May books ALWAYS be that which you forever seek: A home.

Happy Book Lovers Day, Bibliophiles!

Jhymi🖤

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