2013 is definitely the year of the book…and me! I’ve never been one for making New Year’s resolutions, but back in January I promised myself that this year my passion for reading was not going to be curbed or hindered by work or life commitments.
When I looked back on my year in 2012 I noticed that since graduating I had side-lined one thing I was particularly passionate about- the written word. I have loved reading since I was young; I like the smell of new books, the feel of old ones, reading someone else’s notes in the margin of a dusty novel from the depths of the library. I also like e-books. True it doesn’t feel the same but it’s certainly handy for travelling and taking a large amount of reading material with you! As part of my degree I got introduced to some wonderful novels, I particularly fell in love with the Victorian classics. But the number of books I was reading each year dropped the closer I got to finishing my degree, and then I had to enter the working world!
So in January I decided to start over. I set up my blog, pageturnerblog.wordpress.com, and started reviewing the books I was reading. I’ve since opened up my blog to authors looking to have their work reviewed and it’s going very well- I won’t be running out of reading material any time soon that’s for sure.
A few months ago my parents visited and we went to the Leeds Book Fair, held in St. Margaret’s Hall in Horsforth. That was the start of my love for the different book fairs in Leeds. I managed to pick up some long lost but never forgotten Rupert Bear annuals, and thus began my own collection as started by my father before I was born.
Sadly I missed this year’s Big Bookend, but I’ve got the flyer for 2014 pinned on my fridge so there’s no chance of me missing it again! It was at the cross cultural book fair, in Leeds town centre two weeks ago, that I met Fiona Gell co-ordinator of The Leeds Big Bookend. Fiona opened up the possibility of volunteering for, as well as attending, the 2014 Big Bookend. Of course this is a brilliant opportunity to immerse myself in books, books and more books!
So far 2013 has seen my passion for reading successfully re-ignited. Book discovery has shot up since starting my blog and the satisfaction I get from life has risen with it. For me books offer an escape, it’s not that life is terrible, but far more interesting things happen within the pages of the books I read. When all the bills are paid my partner and I can roam the book shops, wander the tables of the various book fairs we come across, and when the weather isn’t so great I can browse online for elusive genres and titles. What started as a lost love has now been found, and it’s developing even faster than I imagined simply because of the wonderful variety of events around Leeds. I wait with bated breath to find out what the next chapter will bring me.