Books: My Bridge To The World

How Books Have Always Helped Me Form Meaningful Connections

My purchases from Thursday

Hello, my lovely bookish friend!!!

Welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet where I talk all things books. Have you been reading this week? This week I finally finished Cleopatra And Frankenstein by Coco Mellors. 

On Thursday, I went out book shopping with three of my co-workers. Our original destination was a used books book-fair, but then we also went to two other bookshops, it was fun. I got myself three books. Two used– Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and Adam Bede by George Eliot, and a new one– The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, a book I've been wanting to read for a long time.

Everyone was quite surprised to see me going out, especially with other people. I don't generally do that, I’ve always been that friend who says no to the plans which has cost me most of my friendships. And I've only been at my current company for less than six months, so it was quite out of character for me. And had this plan been about anything else, I definitely wouldn't have joined them, but since it was about books, I did. And the thing is, that's how it has always been with me. 

Books have always been that bridge that connects me to other people. In two senses. Firstly, they connect me to the broader human experience, as experienced and expressed by the writers. But also in the sense that they have always been my easiest way of bonding with the people around me. 

In my childhood, when I was just starting to read, our landlord’s family would lend me books to read. I could go upstairs anytime I wanted and pick a book from the shelf. I still have one of those books.

Then later on, when we moved, we had a neighbour who had a huge collection  of books. He used to lend them to my brother and me. He was quite happy to do that because he was an avid reader and regretted that his son had zero interest in books.

And when it comes to making friends, books always played a central role in that too. My two closest friends growing up, we used to read the same two children’s magazines. And we used to have very serious, very long, very detailed discussions about those stories. And on Thursday, I found out two of my co-workers also used to read those same magazines and we chatted about them a bit. It was sweet and strange at the same time. 

And of course, there's this online book community. Be it here on Substack or over Instagram. There's something almost magical about bonding with another person based on nothing but our shared love for the same stories.

I think regardless of how withdrawn, introverted you are, deep down we all seek some form of human connection. For me, the biggest medium for that has always been books. That's why I have such a deep fondness for books. Even when I don't like a book, I still like it just because it's a book whose world I can get lost in. I'd totally pick a badly written book over any other fun activity.

What about you? Do you have friends who share your love for books? I'd love to hear about it!!!

For more of my bookish ramblings, you can also find me on Instagram

Also, if you’d like me to write for you, you can contact me at joyiewrites@gmail.com

That’s it for today, I'll be back in your inbox next week.

Until then,

Joyie 🌻