One of my favorite activities is to visit Barnes and Noble. There is something about books that mesmerize me. It’s like here, within these walls, stands a fountain of knowledge, inspiration, and excitement. You are taken to places you’ve never been, shared thoughts and feelings with someone you’ve never met, but the intimacy you enjoy makes you feel you are similar in spirit.

Found on Google+ on 11-4-14. I-love-to-read

Before the age of ten, i never had access to a book except at school. Then my world opened up at the age of ten and I was taken to the public library, the school library, and a private library which was filled with World War I and World War II Surgery Books which I read cover to cover. There were a slew of books on psychiatry and I read the works of Karen Horney, Harry Stack Sullivan, Freud, and Jung. I read books by Gene Stratton Porter, Albert Terhune’s dog stories, and hundreds of other books of fiction. From the public library, week after week. I would check out 10 + books a week. I could not seem to  read enough. The more I read, the hungrier I became.

I feel such joy in a book store. I feel so much excitement. For me, it’s like the feeling one has when coming home after being away for a long period of time. I feel like I belong there. Today, I was going through the self-help books and psychology books and found a treasure of a book: ” In The Garden of Happiness,” written by Dodinsky and illustrated by Ignacio G. It is a book written for any one who has ever lost his/her  inner child.. It is a book of comfort and is full of positive affirmations as well as ideas for coping with painful emotions and stressors. An excerpt from the book reads, ” Whenever you manage to smile in spite of the hardships you’re facing, it means your soul is refusing to be a prisoner of your own sorrows.” Published in 2015 by source books. The illustrations are really fantastic.

Yu/stan/kema