I was so tired the other night, that as soon as the dishes were done and our daughter was tucked in bed. I also headed straight for my own bed. Not before stopping at my bookshelf though. Why? Because even on a night where I’m so tired I can hardly think straight, it’s still nice to curl up with a book, even if I get no further than three pages into it.
There are nights when I want to read, but don’t want to start a new book. I might love the author, but my brain just can’t process new characters, settings and plot. Or sometimes, I just want to curl up with an “old friend” because I don’t feel like making new friends that night.
Who do I love to curl up with on those nights when a meeting new person is something I just can’t cope with?
Psalm 91 just washes peace over my tired soul. My mum read it to me when I was eight and I’d loved it ever since. My Bible used to automatically fall open to Psalm 91 I’d read it so many times.
I often run to Flora Lee, New Mexico with Rose and Lilly Wilder and just drink in the Sangre de Cristos Mountains and for a while pretend I love Krisprolls, pesto and horses.
Sometimes I just have to spend time with Jo March and her wonderful sisters as I laugh and cry with them as they grow from girls into beautiful and accomplished young women.
Other times there is nothing better to soothe the trouble soul than to feel Anne Elliot’s silent anguish as she watches Frederick Wentworth turn his affections towards another. Will love win out? I know the ending but can’t help but wait in anticipation to find out what happens.
Then there’s Lori Wick’s Sabrina, I just can’t get enough of watching Sabrina turn her life around and find happiness with Rylan.
Finally the book I reach for when I don’t know I’m reaching for it; Denise Hunter’s Sweetwater Gap. It’s like coming home when I open the pages and just settle in and hang out with Josie and Grady. If I didn’t have husband and I got to live in a fictional world, I’d probably marry Grady from Sweetwater Gap! Mentally run through your bookshelf, or better yet get up and walk over to your bookshelf. What are the books that are your “old friends”? You don’t have to say who you’d marry though! (But of course, you can if you want!)
Jess is a mum of two children and married to the calmest man alive. She loves to bake and go for walks. A writer of contemporary romance, Jess write stories about the heart and where love is worth the journey.
It's been a long time since I've read "Persuasion" … I think it's time to do so again! Is it wrong to think it may be my favourite Jane Austen, even above Pride & Prejudice? I don't know if I've made an official decision yet!
As for who I'd marry? I've only just found the answer to that … Colonel McLinn 🙂
I also struggle with whether I really like Persuasion more the Pride and Prejudice. Secretly, I really think I do. 🙂