Saturday, April 1, 2017

Dear Friend Event with Meryton Press

Happy April 1st, Dear Readers! I hope you are having a lovely Saturday and weekend. Spring is in full bloom in my part of the world and I am enjoying it! Since April 1st is also April Fool's, are you getting 'fooled'? My grandchildren have the best time on April Fool's Day, the little ones especially. They 'fool' me all day long! lol

I have a treat for you today and a chance to get a surprise gift, no fooling! More Agreeably Engaged is kicking off the Meryton Press Dear Friends Event. The blog portion of this event will take place each Saturday in April. The Blog Schedule is listed below and we hope you will take a moment of your time to visit each one. Be thinking about why you love books and reading. See if you can give a different reason for each stop. I will be giving you my reasons in just a bit; then in the comments, I hope you will share at least one of yours. 

For now, I turn the floor over to Meryton Press.


“Mrs. Collins welcomed her friend with the liveliest pleasure, and Elizabeth was more and more satisfied with coming, when she found herself so affectionately received.” – Jane Austen

Jane Austen describes a fine friendship between Elizabeth Bennet and Charlotte Collins. One friend welcomes another with ‘the liveliest pleasure,” and the other is pleased to share in that. We at Meryton Press know from your words that you, our fans, receive our books with pleasure and affection. It makes our authors warm inside to know that.

We have many things that bring us together, but above all we share a deep love of books. We’d like to center the subject of this event on that which makes books such a delight to us. We have asked each blogger to talk about what it is she loves so much about books and/or reading and we would like to provide a few paragraphs from one of our beloved authors to complement it. We hope that readers participate by sharing something about their love of books in the comments.

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      Why do I love books and reading? Allow me to begin with a few questions.

Do you ever feel that you personally know Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy? Do you discuss them or characters from other books as if they were real people? I can answer a resounding yes to both of those questions.

Yes, I feel like Darcy and Lizzy are my dear friends. Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, John Thornton and Margaret Hale and Ross Poldark and Demelza are a few other dear friends. I’ve been through tons of bad times and good times with them. I’ve cried and worried, I’ve laughed and rejoiced. Sharing their love and their hard-fought path to happily ever after never gets old. I’m right there with them, experiencing every up and down as they live it.

Having conversations with a friend about the characters in a book, as though the characters are living breathing people is the other ‘yes’. As many of you know, Jan Hahn is a close friend. Occasionally we go out to dinner and sooner or later our conversation always turns to books and their characters. We talk about them and the things they are doing as if they are alive. Then we laugh at ourselves thinking if anyone around is hearing, they would be surprised to learn we are talking about fictional people!

Have you ever been so immersed in a story that when you looked up and realized there was no snow on the ground or no rain falling from the sky, it was a shock to your senses? Oh yes, I’ve been there too! That is true immersion. We can escape through the pages of a cherished book; share other lives and forget our own for the hours that we read. We lose ourselves in a good story.

Being so involved with all the Bennet’s, Darcy and Georgiana, Colonel Fitzwilliam and even Lady Catherine and George Wickham, we love and we despise. Thanks to Jane Austen for creating such memorable characters that have stood the test of time. Thank you for putting quill to paper. Thank you to all the other authors in every genre that have captured our hearts and minds with their incredible talent.

Whether it’s Jane Austen’s novels, Elizabeth Gaskell’s, Winston Graham’s, any historical or modern romance, science fiction, paranormal, adventure or drama, I can share life with the characters of these novels. I can visit new and exotic lands, go back in time or explore a distant universe. Through reading, I can see it all. It’s time travel in a book. Isn’t that grand!

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Since this is a Dear Friend Event, I ask my dear friend and beloved author at Meryton Press, Jan Hahn, to do this post with me. Thank you, Jan, for agreeing to take part. Now that I've shared my thoughts on books and reading, will you share yours? What makes books and reading special to you?

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I hold some friends close―or even closer―than family. I go to them in times of joy or sorrow and know they will laugh or cry with me. Some characters in my favorite books have been a part of my life for so long that they feel like old friends. I turn to them for distraction or comfort, confident they will either brighten my day or divert my attention when life gets tough. It began when I was a child and first climbed up the Alps with Heidi or huddled close to my brother while Mother read Treasure Island. I could not wait to learn to read, and when I did, I gobbled up books like manna from Heaven. I had a hard time choosing between a trip to the city library or a few hours at the park.

I devoured The Bobbsey Twins, a family containing not just one set of twins but two. And they solved mysteries to boot! I considered Nan and Bert good buddies while Freddie and Flossie were cute but too young for my company. I resolved to have twins when I grew up, certain that my desire alone would accomplish the fact.

Jo March, naturally, became my favorite of Alcott’s Little Women. I thought her such a bonehead for refusing Laurie until I matured somewhat and understood the better choice was Professor Bhaer. Because the author Fred Gipson is a distant relation of mine, my father suggested I read Old Yeller. Big mistake. I cried and cried when Travis was forced to destroy the dog he dearly loved. It didn’t keep me from reading it again, though. I discovered Shakespeare in my teen years, and read and re-read the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. If given the part, I was convinced I could have been the world’s greatest actress because, surely at fifteen, I knew all about love.

Literature classes introduced me to Fitzgerald and Hemingway, but I confess I didn’t care to re-read their books. Once was enough. I liked Edna Ferber’s saga, Giant, and was thrilled to see her characters come to life in the movie version. I would choose War and Peace any day over pitiful Anna Karenina perhaps because I skipped a lot of the War portion and concentrated on Natasha’s life until I knew her well. And then I met Father Ralph de Bricassart in Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds. Talk about a doomed love affair. A young Australian girl with more than a crush on an ambitious Catholic priest had heartbreak written all over it. I cannot remember how many times I read that book.

Nineteenth century British literature drew me to the Bronté sisters. No matter how often I open Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff and Cathy never live happy lives, and although Mr. Rochester doesn’t deserve Jane Eyre, I rejoice each time she returns to him. I’ve lamented the ending of Tess of the D’Urbervilles far too many times. I prefer Far From the Madding Crowd when I want a touch of Thomas Hardy. I get just as aggravated with Bathsheba when she rejects Gabriel Oak as I did the first time I discovered the novel.

PBS introduced me to Elizabeth Gaskell, and after seeing the gorgeous John Thornton, I was only too glad to read North and South. Margaret Hale became a friend I can admire. I rented and watched the 1970s version of the Poldark miniseries long before the hunky Aidan Turner came along. I confess, however, it’s the present incarnation of that eighteenth-century antihero that caused me to seek out the author, Winston Graham, and read the story for myself.

I think I’ve enjoyed almost all of Anne Tyler’s quirky characters, but I return to Breathing Lessons when I want to laugh out loud. I can re-read all but one of Jan Karon’s Mitford series any time the wind blows. I find the small town nestled in the Carolina mountains as comforting as coming home after a long journey, and I applaud Father Tim for finding true love after the age of sixty.

And, of course, Jane Austen is the author I can read over, over, and over again and never get enough. I reach for a tissue each time Edward Ferrars declares his heart belongs to Elinor Dashwood; I bless Henry Tilney’s forbearance with fanciful little Catherine Morland; I want to pull Emma’s hair and tell her to mind her own business each time she parts Harriet Smith from Robert Martin; I cannot help but hope Fanny Price accepts Henry Crawford and makes him a better man because I just do not think Edmund Bertram deserves her; I want to reassure Anne Elliot that she has not lost her bloom; and even though I know Darcy returns for Elizabeth, I still grow nervous when he takes forever to propose the second time.

I’ve touched on only a few of my favorite books, but by now, I’m sure you can see a pattern. If I really like a book, I want to read it more than once. Each time, I either learn something new, reacquaint myself with passages that have grown dim in my memory, laugh, weep, or fall in love with my favorite characters all over again.

A common love of reading unites us and never more so than in the Jane Austen community. I am grateful that this beloved author is the means through which I have made so many new but dear friends. May we continue to read and share and love the stories that bind us together.

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Thank you again, Jan, for your willingness to join me today and share your love of books. What better way to begin a Dear Friend Event for bloggers, readers and fans than with a personal friend. I had purposely not read Jan's post until I put it on the blog nor has she read mine and will not until the post is live. I had to laugh a little when I read her reasons for loving books and reading. We definitely think alike on a few things concerning books and how we feel about them. What do you think, Jan?

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Dear Friend Blog Schedule:

More Agreeably Engaged–April 1; ends at 11:59 PM April 6th; winner announced April 7th
Austenesque Reviews–April 8; ends at 11:59 PM April 13th; winner announced April 14th
So little time…–April 15; ends at 11:59 PM April 20th; winner announced April 21st
Diary of an Eccentric–April 22; ends at 11:59 PM April 27th; winner announced April 28th
Just Jane 1813–April 29; ends at 11:59 PM May 4th; winner announced my May 5th  
  
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In the month of April, we want to show our appreciation to you, our most steadfast supporters, our dear friends. Good friends give each other gifts. You have given us the gift of your affectionate reception, and we want to reciprocate by giving some of you gifts in return.

As much as we’d like to, we can’t give everyone a gift, but at each hosted blog post during this event on the schedule listed above, an opportunity will be given to enter to win a surprise gift. Each person who comments can enter a Rafflecopter drawing to win. Although a person can enter multiple times (once on each blog post and tweet daily on each blog post), they can win only once. One winner will be chosen at each blog. Five gifts total will be awarded.

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Giveaway:

Giveaway is open to US residents only.  Eligible entries will comment on Dear Friend Event blog posts, tweet about the event and use the rafflecopter to enter. Winners will provide a valid U.S. shipping address for gift delivery upon request. Further details for entering to win a gift are posted at the Meryton Press website.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

General:

·       All Winners will be contacted via social media or email and announced on the Meryton Press website, Facebook, and/or Twitter.
·       In the event that a winner or winners do not respond within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.
·       Winners may not be Meryton Press employees, contractors or authors.
·       An entrant can enter once per Dear Friend Event blog post and multiple times on Social Media, but can win only once.
·       This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook or Twitter.

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I am thrilled to be a part of this event honoring dear friends. I have been so fortunate to meet and make many friends in the JAFF community and through this blog. I appreciate you all. Thank you Meryton Press, Bloggers, Readers and Fans. You have enriched my life and I'm thankful for you.

I want to end this post with a special April Fool's Giveaway! No joke! :) This giveaway will NOT be part of the Rafflecopter surprise gift giveaway, but a separate one. It will be based on comments made from the moment this post goes live until 11:59 PM Central time, April 1st. Anyone that leaves a comment will be entered in the April Fool's Giveaway. There will be one winner randomly selected for a surprise gift. Winner will be announced early next week. To get more entries, share my Facebook post about the Dear Friends Event happening on my blog today. You can get a third entry by retweeting my tweet about the event. I will check my tweet on my twitter page for retweets and the Facebook post on my Facebook page for shares. I hope I see your name there! Thanks and good luck. Remember the April Fool's Giveaway ends at 9 PM Central today, April 1st. The Dear Friend Event Giveaway for my blog ends at 11:59 PM on the 6th of April.

68 comments:

  1. Janet, I very much identify with you when you wrote "Have you ever been so immersed in a story that when you looked up and realized there was no snow on the ground or no rain falling from the sky". I have definitely had that happen, more than once! When I was young, I would also take on the speech mannerisms and vocabulary, of the characters in books I was reading. My brothers hated me!

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    1. I'm so glad that someone else does that too! HaHa! I bet your brothers did frustrated at you. Too funny!

      Thanks for stopping by and telling us some of your experiences with reading. Good luck in the giveaway.

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  2. Dear Jan and Janet - what I lovely first post as a beginning of a wonderful Meryton Press event! Jan - all the books you mentioned are among my top favorites too :-)

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    1. Thank you, Lory! I'm so glad that you stopped by. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts later on down the line! :)

      Didn't Jan have a wonderful reading list? Some are my favorites, too.

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    2. Thanks, Lory! Oldies but goodies.

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  3. Definitely YES to all the questions. Lovely post Janet and Jan.
    As to a dilemma to choose between reading and a walk in the park. My twin sister and I used to drive our Dad crazy by reading books while on an outing. Poor Dad. I still don't know, how we managed walking on trails and through woods without any accidents. I guess we perfected the art of reading while walking on uneven ground pretty well.

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    1. Good to know I have another 'Yes' person to all the questions I presented! lol

      That's neat that you have a twin but I do agree - your poor Dad. He was doing so good to get you outdoors and you read! I love it. I'm not sure how you managed to have no spills either but glad you stayed upright!

      Thanks for dropping by and good luck.

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    2. Thanks, Kate! Sounds like you had plenty of practice for joining the texting generation. Reading while walking..

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    3. LOL, I don't do texting, but I've discovered audiobooks. :) So I can read while driving or walking.

      More funny stories. Once our grandmother kicked us out of the house (sans books) and locked the door. We re-entered the house through the open window to get to our books. Poor Grandma. ;) n

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    4. Like you Jan, we couldn't wait to learn how to read. But for years after we perfected the skill, our Dad continued the ritual of evening sessions of reading books to us. The catch was, that they were books of his choice. 🙈 So he introduced us to classic literature like Tolstoy at pretty early age. 😎

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    5. Love the story about your Grandmother! You all were definitely a set of twins that must have their books!

      Your dad was a smart man to introduce you to classics!

      Kate, I adore audio books too! I can listen while I draw. It doesn't pay to watch TV while I draw. I either miss what is happening or I stop drawing and watch. With audiobooks, I can get carried away with the story and that inspires me as I draw.

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  4. I became a voracious reader in elementary school. I can't really express the years of pleasure reading has given me. There's nothing in the world quite like getting lost in the pages of a good book!

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    1. I agree, Pamela. Books are the perfect escape!

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    2. I bet you were a delight to your elementary school teachers. Isn't it wonderful all the worlds that a good book can open?

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  5. I'm not surprised to find we think alike on reading, Janet. We think alike on a lot of things. Especially Mr. Darcy...Mr. Thornton...and Poldark!

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    1. HaHa! You are so right, Jan! Sigh and swoon!

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  6. Oh, the Bobbsey twins! How I devoured those books when I was young!

    Before e-readers, when I would do a long business trip, my luggage packing strategy always revolved around how many books I needed to pack to get me through the trip. I spent much time in airports and on planes, and always needed a book at the ready. Then I received an e-reader for Christmas, and I was able to pack a change of clothes and shoes! LOL

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    1. You make me laugh, Gail! So glad you FINALLY got to pack a change of clothes and shoes! Hooray for eReaders!

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  7. You break me up, Gail! Glad you no longer have to wear the same clothes every day on your business trips. LOL! And another Bobbsey Twins fan! I much preferred them to The Hardy Boys, probably because I was fascinated with twins. I also loved The Jackson Twins in the comic pages, especially since one was named Jan.

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  8. Thank you, Meryton Press, for the wonderful idea. This post was positively delightful.

    Like Janet and Jan, books I read when I was young influenced my character and my goals as an adult. I loved Lucy Maud Montgomery because I loved Anne (with an "E"). Nancy Drew was my go-to detective and the Boxcar Children were some of my favorite reads. Then I discovered Agatha Christie and James Bond (I was only 12 and got in trouble when my Mom realized what I'd brought home from the library). I wanted to grow up to be Hercule Poirot with the elegant style of Mr. Bond, only female. I filled my time in between reading what the library had by devouring Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour. I loved the Sacketts before I ever knew who Capt. Wentworth, Colonel Brandon, Mr. Knightley, or Mr. Darcy were. Now? The majority of books I read are Jane Austen related and I don't mind one bit. I still take out the originals and marvel at her wit. I can't ever imagine a time when books will not play a huge role in my life. I doubt I'm alone.

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    1. How did I forget the Boxcar Children? I loved them, too. And my dear husband loved Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour. I know who the Sacketts are because of him. Thanks for the memories, Joy! I agree with you. A time without books in our lives is unimaginable.

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    2. Joy, thanks so much for stopping by. Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie, those are some my favorites too. I also grew up with Louis L'Amour. My dad loved his books and he had most, if not all of them. I have them now. I believe I need to go hunt them up. I don't want to imagine a time without books. That would be unbearable.

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  9. I read books for the enjoyment of going into another world. It is also my me time.

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    1. Ah, me time. Absolutely a necessity. Thanks for the comment, Patty.

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    2. I can't think of much better me time than sitting down with a good book. sigh!

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    3. Ooh, ooh!! I can! Reading in a bathtub with chocolate!

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    4. Oh, Ginna! You just had to top it by adding chocolate and a bathtub! lol

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    5. Well, you said that you couldn't think of much better me time than sitting down with a good book. I just wanted to describe how it could be better. Doesn't get much better than that. The only way it could be better, I think, is if the water didn't go cold, and the chocolate had negative calories!

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  10. I have been an avid reader since I first learned to read. My flashlight under the covers used to drive my mother mad. Since I have retired I spend even more time reading and have become addicted to JAFF. There are so many tales just waiting to be read. Thank goodness!

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    1. JAFF is addictive, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for your comments, Lynn.

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    2. I love your flashlight under the covers! I think I've done that a time or two myself! lol I'm addicted to JAFF too, and it's all Jan's fault! :)

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  11. As soon as I could read I used to "borrow" my 2 brothers'library tickets as well as my own. I loved having so many books. I loved Enid Blyton especially The Faraway Tree books then The Famous Five and the Adventure series. I also liked The Bobbsey Twins. What Katie Did, Little Women etc and Pride and Prejudice. I worked my way round the children's section of the library then started on the adult sections. Gone With The Wind, books by Howard Spring and John Wyndham. Then I found Georgette Beyer ��. I collected all her books and have read them so many times. I read the rest of Jane Austen but P&P is by far my favourite and in 2014 I was lucky enough to discover JAFF and my world exploded! I love them and certain situations, songs and programmes remind me of ODC. Yes I too consider them to be real people at times. Luckily there are many books to choose from although I have some that I like to 're read over and over again. After all this I must say alas I live in the UK so am not eligible for the giveaway but I wish all the other entrants good luck.

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    1. Thank you so much for commenting, Glynis! Don't tell anyone, but Janet and I consider Darcy so real that we looked for him all over England when we made a tour in 2012. Didn't find him, unfortunately, but still such a beautiful country.

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    2. Glynis, I'm so happy you stopped by and commented regardless. Keep watching because there are several giveaways coming up that are international.

      Yes, Jan and I did hunt Mr. Darcy. I confess to being a bit disappointed that we didn't find him!The country is gorgeous. I'm ready to visit again.

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  12. Great post, Jan and Janet! I have some of Nora Roberts' books that I read to settle down at night before I sleep, almost like music or warm milk :D I read them many times, and the characters have become almost like old friends. Books are magic aren't they?

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    1. Thank you, Karen. I'm so glad you stopped by. I loved Nora Roberts' books too. Books are magic. They take us hostage and hold us in their grip until we've devoured every last page.

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  13. I enjoy reading for many of the same reasons you mentioned. The main reason I read jaff is that I have always been fascinated with this time period and reading stories set during this time makes me feel like I am experiencing it myself.

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    1. Love the Regency period! Thanks for your comments.

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    2. The Regency period is fascinating to me, too. I love it and love reading books set in that time period. That's one of our many reasons for loving Jane Austen, besides the fact that she is such an excellent author! :)

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  14. Definitely magic, Karen, especially yours!

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    1. Well, I meant to reply to Karen, but leave it to me to goof it up!

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  15. I fell in love with reading through the wonderful Milly Molly Mandy books which I dutifully got from the library each and every Saturday!
    Looking back on these stories now,I see the repetitive style that the author used,probably to allow us children to perfect our reading ability,but,my goodness,how I dearly loved these stories!
    I can still remember the sheer delight in seeing a 'new' book,from the series,on the shelf,one that I hadn't read previously,and the innocent happiness in knowing that I could bring it home and find out what befall Milly Milly Mandy and her extended family on that particular week!
    I too know the pleasure of being magically transported to a different world,confronted with different challenges and emotions as beloved characters battled their inner demons,failed to win the hand of their true love,or,more often than not,rejected a marriage proposal from one they had previously and erroneously judged ill,only for them to yearn for a previous second chance.
    Yes,I am not alone in befriending John and Margaret,Darcy and Elizabeth,Anne and Capt.Wentworth,and will happily while away an hour or so in their company!!
    Fellow readers,what would we do without books?! ����
    Loved this post. Sincere thanks to all concerned for same.

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    1. Hi Mary. It's so good to have you stop by and comment. I'm happy that you loved this post. Isn't it neat to devote a whole post to reading and loving all books, not just one in particular? It's been like a big group of friends here sharing our love of reading and what is special about it. I am loving seeing what everyone has to say. I don't even want to think what we would do without books, do you? Scary thought, indeed! I have to tell you, I am not familiar with the books you mentioned from your childhood. You can bet I will be looking them up though!

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  16. Thanks for such a fascinating post ladies. It's not just talking about books and characters we like to do is it? We actually like to talk about reading itself sometimes, as you've both said. The act of losing ourselves in another time and/or place and/or universe still remains something of a miracle to me. The fact that other people can write such wonderful works as to draw us away from our own lives so completely is a talent I'm very envious of.

    I can't remember learning to read; it seems to be something I've always been able to do. Learning to write I can remember as it was somewhat of a trial to me and my handwriting was once described by a teacher as looking like a spider had crawled over the page! But when it comes to reading, even at the age of five, I used to get told off for reading ahead sileNtly when we were supposed to take turns reading aloud in class and I also used to get annoyed by how slow some of the other children would be. Uncharitable I know, but I was only five or six at the time!

    As another Brit, like Glynis, I'm not eligible for the Rafflecopter but I'd still like to share some of my early experiences of reading. So many memories have resurfaced reading the other comments! The first complete book I can remember reading to myself was Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie and I still have that copy over fifty five years later. Money was not a plentiful commodity in my childhood so discovery of "The Library" (I always thought of it with the capital letters) was like going to heaven. The problem was that under-14s could only have two books every fortnight, so I always ran out of reading after less than a week. We couldn't go more often as we didn't have a car then and it was a bus ride or very long walk to get there. I was a teenager before a library was built nearer home. Once I reached 10, I was also able to borrow a book a week from school. Apparently, we were considered responsible enough to take books home once our age was in double figures!

    I devoured all of Enid Blyton's books: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Faraway Tree stories, her circus stories, and her adventure stories. Having read the comments, I now remember reading the Bobbsey Twins and Milly Molly Mandy stories too. Like many young girls, I went through a "pony" phase and read all the books I could find on that subject too, especially Ruby Ferguson, Gillian Baxter, H. M. Peel, the Silver Brumby books by Elyne Mitchell and Mary O'hara's Flicka series.

    Then I discovered sci-fi and read everything our library had to offer in the under-14 section in that genre. My Dad sometimes used to let me read some of the sci-fi books he'd borrowed from the grown-ups' section. I nearly typed "adult section" but that givea all the wrong sort of ideas, doesn't it? That's how I got into Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and John Wyndham. Classic literature didn't come until secondary school after I turned 11, when we had to study English Literature. So that was the Brontës, Dickens, George Elliott, Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, John Keats but strangely, no Austen or Gaskell. Those I had to discover for myself and probably the reason I enjoyed them a lot more was because I didn't HAVE to read them.

    Now, many years later, I still read sci-fi and fantasy but I spend much of my reading time immersed in Georgian, Regency or Victorian England, waiting with bated breath to see how our favourite couples overcome the many obstacles in the way of them reaching their HEAs.

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    1. Oh my! I didn't realise how much I'd waffled on until after my comment had posted. Apologies for that!

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    2. No need to apologize, Anji! I love your comments. Your description of "The Library" reminded me of mine. I lived in a small town, and our library was a small room in the Municipal Building downtown. A little old gray-haired lady sat at a table and kept an eye on books and readers. After I read all the children's books, I ventured into the "grown-ups" section, and the library lady had a fit. Fortunately, my mother intervened and allowed me to check out approved books. That's how I read Giant before I was ten years old.

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    3. Like Jan said, no apologies needed, Anji. I loved reading your comments and you telling us that 'The Library' was in capital letters in your mind. That is neat and shows how special it truly was to you.

      Hasn't it be fun reading how everyone started on their journey with books. It has been fascinating. Although different, there are some similarities.

      I still enjoy good sci-fi also, Anji, and I was/am an Isaac Asimov fan, although I have read little of his works in quite some time. I adore science fiction movies, too! :)

      I'm so glad that you took time to visit and tell us about your experiences even though you could not enter the giveaway. There will be more international giveaways coming up so please, watch for them.

      Your post was great and I enjoyed every word of it! :)

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  17. I too only had 2 library tickets and I lived in New Mills in Derbyshire which is very hilly so it was a goog half hour hike to the library. Luckily as I said I used the 4 tickets belonging to my brothers as well and I used to go every Saturday. A friend of my mum also gave me a lot of books that her daughters had grown out of (I myself never grow out of books - I couldn't wait to read them to my children!) We also got a book as a Sunday School prize which is how I got P&P. Both my children love reading and are helping their children to love books too. Well I can hear Darcy calling so I must get back to him ��

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    1. Thanks for your comments, Glynis! I, too, shared the books I loved with my children. How cool to get P&P as a Sunday School prize. That was a prize indeed!

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    2. Hi Glynis. I'm with Jan! What a fantastic Sunday School prize. I found it interesting that your mom's friend passed on her daughter's 'old' books to you. My mother had a friend that did the same thing for me. Most of them were classics like Little Women. They were a set bound similarly and I thought they were lovely.

      Glad you got to use your brothers' library tickets. Smart girl!

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  18. Anji-you read Milly Molly Mandy!!!!!! You don't know how delighted I am to read that!!!! For a while there,I thought I was the only one!!!!

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    1. I can remember getting the Milly Molly Mandy books from The Library I spoke of earlier. Although I don't remember much about her adventures nowadays, I do remember her full name of Millicent Margaret Amanda and that her friend's name was Susan, I think

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  19. That is fun how both of the ladies really engaged deeply with books that were read aloud when young and later on their own so that characters and time spent in the book's world felt real. I experienced this, too. I credit most of my ideas of the world outside home, love of history, and interest in people different from me to reading. I think it is no coincidence that most of my closest friends growing up and later were big readers and we could talk books so easily. My early favorites were the classics that my mom read aloud, but I also had a real love affair with mysteries and horse stories early on- Three Investigators, Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, and The Black Stallion. Then it was all the LM Montgomery books, Phyllis Whitney, Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, Louis L'Amour, and Agatha Christie. I was a fan of the 'backlist' and devoured all an author's works before moving on to try another. Now, well now habit and book love is greatly expanded. LOL

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    1. Thanks for your comments, Sophia Rose! I, too, loved The Black Stallion, Phyllis Whitney, and Victoria Holt. If I like an author, I want to read all his/her books, too.

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    2. Hi Sohpia. I'm happy you visited and shared with us your own experiences. I loved Nancy Drew books, too. When I discovered Victoria Holt, she became an instant favorite. I couldn't wait to devour the next book by this author!

      I read much to my son as young boy and he still loves to read. Now I have the pleasure of reading to my grandchildren.

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  20. A lovely idea and a lovely first posting that hits all the reasons why we readers love to read. My first literary friends were Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, and altho' I'm not convinced that anyone but Watson can claim a close friendship with Holmes, I keep trying. My annual birthday gift to myself is a re-reading of the canon. (This year the reading starts next week.) I must've "caught" this obsession from my mother, who also enjoyed the Holmes stories (altho' not quite as obsessively as I do).

    When I first read Jane Austen as a young girl I really did not appreciate her writing, her wit, or her characters, altho' there were numerous other stories that I adored and made "mine." Fortunately I picked these books up again a couple of years ago, and as we all do I wanted more and started reading JAFF. I'm pretty sure I haven't read P&P or S&S as often as some of you, but I can practically recite vignettes from Northanger Abbey, my favourite Austen story. And yes, I do feel that I know these people, and at least with P&P often think that I'd like this book to end a little differently "this time." But bless their hearts it never does and I discover yet again that I can always count on these "friends" when other friends fail me.

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    1. I wasn't mature enough to "get" P&P when I first read it in high school. Did remember Mr. Darcy, though. Wonder why? Nice to meet someone besides Margaret Sullivan who loves Northanger Abbey. I'm partial to Mr. Tilney myself. Thanks for your comments.

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    2. Hi Janis. I'm glad you stopped by and told us abut your first literary friends. I still love Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson!Have fun with your birthday re-reading.

      I, too, did not appreciate Jane Austen during my first reading. When I did, the obsession took over. I still love to read good JAFF variations.

      Good luck in the giveaway.

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  21. I loved this post and I am thrilled to be a part of this event.

    I really think it's amazing when readers reflect on their own reading lives. I feel like reading is so immersed in everything that I do and when we share these pleasures with other readers, the joys only multiply!!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post and I'm thrilled you are part of this event too.

      Hasn't there been some wonderful discussion on reading and books? I loved every minute of reading everyone's thoughts.You are so right that the joys only multiply. Thanks, Claudine.

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  22. Another wonderful event! Thank you.

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  23. Love to read since I was a little girl. Get lost in fun or fantasy world. Also relive the old west. So much fun. One word about books. Fun. About reading. Learning.

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    1. Hi Lee. I like your word about books and your word about reading. Excellent! Thanks for stopping by.

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  24. Janet. One of the books from my Mum's friend was called The Land of Little Rain and was stories about a family in the Hopi Indian tribe. I loved that book and read it many many times. It was also a favourite of my daughter's. There were children's craft books from the thirties and a lovely book called Enid Blyton's book of the year which had a poem, a wildlife story, a fairy story, a play and a song for each month which I also loved and still have. I hate to think how much I would have missed if there were no books in my life.

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    1. I would like the The Land of Little Rain, I'm sure. I looked up books by Enid Blyton and those looked like lovely books. I would some of them for my grandchildren. Wouldn't we have missed much without books and still would. I'm so thankful for the books in my life.

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