SO THE BLOGGING BUG HAS BITTEN ME...

So the blogging bug has bitten me (do I hear you say “about time”?) and as I sit here contemplating what my first entry should be about, I have to figure that my first entry should probably tell you a little bit about me. I find myself falling back on my first love (and what most of my blog will consist of); Literature.

There are few things better than falling in love with a good book. For me, discovering a masterpiece is akin to the smell of the earth after a bout of rain, the summer sun warming your skin, Cadbury chocolate melting in your mouth. When I discover a familiar book in a secondhand bookstore, I experience the kind of euphoria you might get from discovering forgotten cash in the pocket of an old pair of jeans. The friends you meet in the pages of a good book are lifelong and dependable - they’re always there for you. Whenever you need them, you just pick up your tattered copy of a beloved book, and the world gets a little bit better. Whenever I’m upset, all I have to do is dig out Jane Austen's Persuasion and re-read Wentworth’s letter to Anne. “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant.” Are there more beautiful words in the English language? (Oh, that’s another thing you should probably know about me - I’m a bit of a romantic).

Ask me to discuss my favorite moments, and I’ll list moments such as these: When Angel finally goes home to Michael (Francine Rivers' Redeeming Love) When Landon helps Jamie complete her list of things to do before she dies (Nicholas Sparks' A Walk to Remember) and when Darcy and Elizabeth fall in love despite themselves (Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice) . Only a devoted literature junkie such as myself will know what I’m talking about here. Only the most loyal lovers of the written word will fully comprehend what I mean when I say that your favorite moments, your favorite memories can be found in the pages of a book.

Here, on A Literary Labour of Love, I will share with you my thoughts on all things literature… and some other things too, from time to time. I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading my blog as much as I will enjoy writing it.

Happy reading!