Oh, The Places You'll Go

Thirty Days of Thankfulness, Day 15

Have you read any good books lately?  I haven't.  Sadly, I don't have the time to just sit and read books for my own enjoyment.  When I was kid, my parents couldn't keep me in books.  In school, I was always two or three grades ahead of my peers when it came to reading level, and in high school, I often finished a book in one night that the teacher had intended to teach from over a month or two during the school week.  There was also that time I read The Grapes of Wrath over summer vacation.  There's some light and airy summertime reading, right?

I just love books.  New books, old books, fiction, non-fiction, mysteries, love stories, adventure-I love them all.  I have many bookshelves filled at my house, along with having my entertainment center filled with them and some of my favorites stacked next to my bed.  I have boxes of books people have given me that still need a home and I still want more.  Hi, my name is Amie, and I am a book hoarder.  I love the way they feel and smell and I absolutely love old books with drawings and signatures inside.  I love that books can not only tell a story, but that books themselves are stories.

This is where I talk about running.  Kind of.  I started running three and half years ago.  My runs were short, mostly less than 30 minutes.  I'd crank up the tunes in my headphones and run my little heart out to the beat of the music.  I even got lost from time to time because I was busier rocking out to AC/DC and Eminem than paying attention to where I was going!  Then, winter came.  I guess I didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to run all year long outdoors.  I quickly learned that running on ice gets you nowhere fast.  That's okay, I thought.  I'll just take my runs to the treadmill!  Weellllll...the music that had been so distracting during my outdoor runs became monotonous and boring during a treadmill run.  I had to do something-quickly!  I couldn't just not run.  I decided to try an audiobook.  I had no time to read anything with five little ones, so I had a long list of books on my wish list.  A book HAD to be better than the music, right?  In any case, it couldn't be any worse.

So, on a frigid December day in Ohio, I downloaded The Help.  I had never listened to an audiobook, let alone while running.  I.  Was.  Mesmerized.  Running AND books?!  Perfection.  And I haven't slowed down since.

I was there, laughing to tears over the "chocolate pie incident" in The Help.

I stopped halfway up a hill to cry when Beth died in Little Women.

I was running the coast of Lake Michigan in Chicago when I learned, along with Tris, where her Divergence came from.

I was crying with Scott Jurek when he said his final goodbye to his mom in Eat and Run.

I was jumping up and down on a treadmill as Ann Trason crushed everyone in an ultramarathon in Born to Run.

I stopped dead in my tracks on a dirt road in my hometown after listening to exactly how crazy Amy Dunn really was at the end of Gone Girl.

I was there when Louisa wrapped herself around Will in their last embrace in Me Before You.

I struggled along with Vianne and Isabelle on their journey through the war in The Nightingale.

I was there, cheering, when Ove dropped Tom to the floor and retrieved his father's watch in A Man Called Ove.

I felt the innocence of the love shared between Andy and Rachel in Who Do You Love.

I was there when Eleanor said goodbye to her son Theo in The Lake House.

I watched the houses fly by in The Girl on the Train.

I was there when Isabel forced Tom into some life-changing decisions in The Light Between Oceans.

I stood with wonder as Jacob realized his grandfather's stories were true in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

I was there when Kate discovered her family history in The Forgotten Room.

I felt Kasia's unending hope in Lilac Girls.

I wanted to reach out and help Ani all those years ago in Lucky to Be Alive.

I could see the drawings on the wall of a child prisoner in The Shut Eye.

I followed along on her grandmother's adventures with Elsa in My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.

I was there watching Sheryl Strayed pitch a tent along the Pacific Crest Trail in Wild.

I was cheering for Britt-Marie when she defended her little shop from thieves in Britt-Marie Was Here.

I could feel the terror as little Naomi took those treacherous steps into the cellar in The Obsession.

So you see, I might not have time to read, but through running, I've also been able to enjoy some awesome books.  And let me tell you, there aren't many things more embarrassing than having to stop a treadmill because you're sobbing uncontrollably!

Today, I am thankful for books and their writers, for taking me to places I have only dreamed of and to places I have never dreamed of.