bkmads

I love the little strings of letters you see around you everywhere. I love TLA's so beloved of Doctors, my favourite being the one the shrink in a hospital in Ireland uses for his patients; Multiple Abnormalities Detected, shortened to M.A.D! I also make names for cars from license plates, hence my car is called Rocky (R...OCK; I had the car before the Rock made his name. How old is that!) and past incarnations have been Veronica, Arthur and Bob.

My newest sad hobby is making words from the verification strings that blogs throw out at me to check I'm human. My husband says if it were only so simple to check, he'd have done it by now, but we're not talking to him yet.

Lots of them are useless, gibberish & don't make any sense (yes, I can hear you thinking "Do any of them?" but keep reading, please) but I had one the other day that did make perfect sense for me. It was bkmads.

Bookmad? Me? I don't think so. Addicted? Consumed? Possessed? Overwhelmed? Perhaps.

I love books. If I am ever declared bankrupt then it will be the books what done it. Ever divorced and the hardest custody battles will be for the books. Ever alone? My constant companion is a book. I like romance, Chick lit, self-help, cookery (Oh yes, cookery! I can tell you how to cook anything... but I've never done half!) I have teaching books piled in boxes in the attic waiting for me to get back, I have books from my Mum, my Nan and my great grandfather.

I have a prayer book covered in olive wood from the Holy Land that's too precious to use and too delicate to do anything with. I have childrens books, thrillers (Has it got a courtroom in? Then I'll give it to PT), every version of the thinking man's Da Vinci Code published in the last 5 years, a large slice of Sci Fi from the early 80's, an extensive collection of classics from school and college with some replacements along the way.

We ( I include the children in here) have a full set of Thomas the Tank engine, an assortment of annuals from 1999 onwards, a burgeoning assortment of modern children's literature. We have had to pre-book 2 Harry Potters for July 21st because neither DP nor I would agree to the other one having first dibs; mine is coming from Mr Amazon that morning; DP's is on pre-order at Mr Borders little emporium & we are going to collect after midnight.....

Books have shaped me & given me some of my happiest hours. They don't mind if I leave them half way through, they sit & wait for me. They give me ideas and inspiration, they show me a better way of living & make me seek to be different. They have been with me longer than any friend, they never answer back, they have no personal opinions on me. They don't judge me by appearance, education or even if I had a shower that day. They are, in short, a perfect way to spend a day. And if the magic should happen... the elusive magic when a book bonds with you & you begin to feel it as a living being... well, that magic is what life as a reader is all about. Happy reading & all that, peeps!