I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else. ~Neil Gaiman

Truth: When I was a young girl, I had recurring nightmares about being caught inside a burning house and not escaping until I could figure out how to save my books. This revelation quite possibly tells you enough about me that I should stop writing now! Nevertheless, I persist in written expression of my deepest gratitude to all the authors of the literature I have read over my lifetime and for those I can hardly wait to read. Interwoven into thanksgiving for books, I am eternally grateful for the peace I feel every time I enter a library or bookstore. So much so, that I will forever seek out literary spots wherever life finds me and take a piece of their shelves home with me in eager anticipation of visiting the world of words set between the pages of each and every gift of a book.

Just for fun, here is a sampling of some of my favorite bookstores I have encountered in my travels and places I have lived:

• Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA:  https://www.brooklinebooksmith.com/
• Mitchell’s Book Corner, Nantucket Island, MA:  http://www.mitchellsbookcorner.com/
• Paragraphs Bookstore, Mt. Vernon, OH:  https://paragraphsbookstore.indielite.org/
• The Book Loft of German Village, Columbus, OH:  http://bookloft.com/
• The Book Nook & Java Shop, Montague, MI:  http://www.thebooknookjavashop.com/
• The Kenyon College Bookstore, Gambier, OH:  https://www.shopkenyon.com/

Please, leave a comment and tell me about your favorite bookshops!

Some books leave us free and some books make us free. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson