I suppose the natural thing would be to use this space to write a love note to the man who proposed to me over twenty years ago, watched me give birth to three squirming bundles, endured the ups and downs of my writing career, supported me through the anxiety of failures and the ebullience of successes, and held my hand across more dinner tables than I can remember ... the same man who still shares my hopes and dreams for our children, never complains when I grab the Sunday magazine section first, and lets me fall asleep on his shoulder while watching reruns of House.
But I'm not going to do that. (Sorry, hon!) Instead, I'm writing a Valentine to readers—the men and women who keep the torch lit in an era when the flame is threatened with extinction by so many distractions. So here's to you, readers ...
♥ For understanding the aisles of a bookstore hold more wonder and enchantment than the aisles of a shopping mall
♥ For choosing to run out in the rain for a trip to the library, and for falling in love with the soft, well-worn pages of a book that's been read and read
♥ For feeling a tingle of excitement at cracking the spine of a brand new book
♥ For finding it hard to turn the last page and leave the new friends you've discovered
♥ For getting more excited by the number of titles in your e-reader than the amount of money in your wallet
♥ For telling your friends that yes, yes, yes, they should read the book you just finished
♥ For starting a conversation with a stranger by asking what they're reading
♥ For putting a novel in your cart at the big chain store, along with the carton of diet soda and giant package of paper towels
♥ For deciding that attending your book club meeting is more fun than watching fighting housewives or dancing stars
♥ For knowing that a bookstore gift card is a better present than cash
♥ For reading to a child
♥ For knowing there can be more beauty in one tender sentence than in a whole bouquet of roses
Happy Valentine's Day, readers ...
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