Why Do I Fancy Books?

Hey lovelies! So the amazing bloggers over at We Fancy Books are hosting a Follower appreciation giveaway. One of the stipulations of the giveaway is to answer the question of "Why do you fancy books?" Ha! To be honest, that is kind of like asking me "why do you breathe?" To answer that question I will now proceed to ramble for a long time, as well as give you some random anecdotes from the life of a ridiculous reader...me. SO enjoy! Or leave now...because its about to get bookish up in here.

I fancy books for many reasons. One...they are awesome. Books take you to places that you could never afford to go in read life. For instance, space...I don't know about you, but I doubt I'll ever save up the 8 million it takes to be a passenger on one of the space mission thingys. And I'm definitely not going to become an astronaut randomly. But through books and reading, I can do and see things that I will never be able to do. My favorite books of all time are the Harry Potter series. They take the real world, mix it up, and make it into the most magical, wonderful place imaginable. Books also take you away from the present. Sometimes, when things aren't going so well at home, or you've had a bad breakup, you can just dive into the world of someone else. By dealing with some Main Character's massive heap of problems, yours seem so much smaller and you can leave them behind for an hour or so.

I've always been a crazy-reader. I deemed myself that title in the 4th grade when we had a Read-a-thon for a "book auction". Basically, for every page you read, you earned 1 point, and at the end of each semester, there was an auction on a whole host of prizes. Dvds. cd's, stuffed animals, posters, make-up, books...seriously, everything a 4th grader could imagine and want in their room, they had it. The currency you used to bid on the prizes was the points you earned for however many pages you read. Now, even in 4th grade, I read constantly. At the end of the 3 month period, I had accumulated over 7000 pages/points...I didn't even realize that what I had done was abnormal until the day of the auction came, and the person who was closest to me point wise had 2000 points. Basically, I was a boss at that auction. I had so many points, I literally could buy anything I wanted...so I did...I bought things for my friends, for people I didn't even know well, for the boy I had a crush on...soon people would just stop bidding if I had even a slight interest in an item. I will forever love the teacher who came up with the idea, Mrs. Rossow. It was due to this Read-a-thon Auction thing that I first secured my title as Bookworm, one that I wear proudly to this day.

Another reason I fancy books, is because they can help develop you into a better person. Growing up, I was extremely shy with meeting new people, and just didn't know how to act when with a group of people that I didn't know. I was so painfully shy that it was extremely awkward for all involved and I used to kind of dread social situations. Then I "met" Jacky Faber from the Bloody Jack series.Though not perhaps the best role model in all things (she lies, cheats, steals, and kills quite frequently) Jacky undoubtedly has a very outgoing personality with everyone. She has an ability to charm even the most grumpy or witchy person ever. And she is innately caring and funny. I loved Jacky so much that I tried asking myself "what would Jacky do right now?" whenever I was feeling uncomfortable with people...and you know what? Slowly I started being more and more outgoing, loud and extroverted. As I got more comfortable with people I grew into my own, and now you seriously wouldn't even recognize me. Now I'm usually the loudest, most outspoken person in a group and I love it. I would probably be stuck in the house still if it wasn't for Jacky and my love of books.

So friends! That is a little bit about why I Fancy Books! I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane...sort of..Happy Saturday all and don't forget to enter my 500 Follower giveaway to the right! >>>>