World Book Day 2016

Today is World Book Day - a celebration of literature around the globe. Should it be an international holiday? I think so. I love the traditions that surround this day, people dress up and really get behind the imagination of it all. I thought this would be a great chance on SDWC to really reflect on reading, which is such a huge passion of mine. Why do I love it so much?

There is something magical about reading. It has the power to literally transport you anywhere. I am currently reading Oliver Twist (review to follow soon) and I was really struck by the magic power of Dickens' words during the week. I was sitting on a train, commuting to work, and rolling through the foggy Northern Irish countryside. Except I wasn't. I was on Fagin's coattails as he navigated and trundled through tiny, dirty, dark, Victorian London streets. I was totally there with him. I was in two places at once. My mind was able to decipher these squiggles on a page and simultaneously put me in Victorian London while I was physically north of Antrim. You can time travel to places you would never be in your whole life. It expands your horizons. It's pure escapism. You can be in any story in any part of the world, in times gone by, in times that haven't even happened yet. You can be in space. You can be at sea. All through your eyes and ink on a piece of paper. It is pure magic.

The printed word changed everything. It was fundamental in the development of the world and the human race. With knowledge comes power, and books give people that knowledge. Books are imperative for understanding the world in which we find ourselves. We learn about the past, the future, the present. We become informed, intelligent, and we develop. Hitler's book burning in 1933 has sinister imagery, the image of depriving pep. In 1821, German journalist Heinrich Heine said, somewhat prophetically, "Where they have burned books, they will end burning human beings."

So here's to the printed word, the wonderful stories, the past, the present, the future, the wild, the wicked, the hilarious, the dreamy, the magical, the real, the sad, the uplifting, and the romantic. How will you be celebrating World Book Day?