Tag Archives: books

Nourished Mind: On My Shelf Autumn Edition

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You would think that someone who wants to be a writer, someone who studies writing, editing, and publishing, and lives in constant threat of a pile of books crashing onto her bed in the middle of the night, you would think that someone would get through a whole pile of books in a three month period.

That someone is me, and as I reflect over my ‘read’ pile for autumn I realise that my ‘to be read’ pile has grown at a disproportionate rate. I have to say it: I am a book-buying addict. I can’t help myself. Every time I walk past a second hand book shop the musk and vanillin smell draws me in. I can’t say no, and I never stop at just one. When there are books available for purchase, and I have to choose between books and food, well…even for a very hungry caterpillar like me the choice isn’t hard. I have filled the shelves in my room, and my collection has overflowed onto the floor. I am never without a stash in my handbag, car, gym bag, desk. If I don’t get my fix for a while I become distracted, my mind focused only on acquiring the next hit.

“Hello, my name is Amy, and I am a book-buying addict.”

(Hint: your line is…)

Over the last three months, in addition to reading papers for university and countless amazing blog entries and probably more Tweets than a healthy person should, I have managed to read, and complete a few books as well adding to the pile. So, here were my picks for autumn 2013.

Never Stop Believing by Sally Obermeder. Published by Allen & Unwin, 2013.

Sally’s story captured my heart from the moment Matt White first announced on Today Tonight that Sally was battling breast cancer. I followed the news of her story, and when she released her book I bought a copy on the first day I found one. I devoured the whole thing in about two days. I cried, I laughed. My heart tingled with warmth and went stone cold when I imagined the unhappy endings her story could have had. This is one that I recommend to any woman, or anyone who’s life has been touched by breast cancer. Sally’s voice is friendly and easy to read, and her story, although extraordinary in parts is really the story of someone who strove hard to achieve her dreams and fought back from the edge of the abyss. Keep the tissue box close for this one. Sally also curates a fantastic life, style, and celebrity news blog called Swiish.

A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Two) by George R.R. Martin. Published by Bantam, 2000.

After receiving A Game of Thrones for Valentine’s Day, and falling completely in love with the epic nature of Martin’s writing and the world he has built, I had to buy the second book. Even though it is slow going and I have the attention span of a gnat so I am still devouring this book, bite by bite. Martin creates a world that draws you in, grand in scale but with human emotion that is easy to identify with, this is storytelling. I can almost imagine sitting around a fire listening to the bards of old recount this tale night after night while rapt audiences look on. I am so glad that there are five more books in the series! 

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life From Someone Who’s Been There by Cheryl Strayed. Published by Vintage, 2012.

I am fearful of trying to put words to this beautiful little book. I find it is best enjoyed in small amounts. This book is a selection of columns written for the ‘Dear Sugar’ section of ‘The Rumpus’ (check it our here). Each column offers a point of view or way of thinking about something that causes me to sit back and consider my own view of the world. There is great wisdom and compassion (and sometimes a wise and compassionate reality check) in the way Cheryl Strayed addresses each troubled soul. This is a volume to keep on your bookshelf and turn to in times of doubt or grief or when you need a sweet voice to remind you that we are all responsible for our own happiness and the turns our life takes are, for the most part, in our hands.

So, those are the books that I have finished (or mostly finished) over the past three months since my last ‘On the Shelf’ post. What’s filling my bedside table currently?

  • The Art of Romance Writing by Valerie Parv. This one is to help me with my goal of completing a romantic fiction manuscript by my 27th birthday – I have exactly 297 days remaining on my countdown!
  • Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. I discovered this during my weekly BBC Radio 4 binge (podcast here) and then I heard another interview on Radio National, which caused me to spend my entire lunchtime one day reading the free chapter available on Amazon. I then messaged my favourite independent bookseller and ordered my copy. Now it sits beside my bed, ready to be cracked open very soon.
  • The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth. I am super-excited that Kate is coming along to the Writing Races I run every Wednesday night as part of my internship at The Australian Writer’s Marketplace. I am also super-excited to read this re-telling of the true tale of the Grimm brothers and the girl who grew up to marry Willhelm Grimm.
  • Yesterday I also visited the library and picked up two new cosy mysteries for a quick read in between more serious works: Witches Bane by Susan Wittig Albert, and Alpine for You by Maddy Hunter – oh how I do love a cosy.

And, I think that’s about it. Of course, it isn’t nearly a comprehensive list of the sentences and words that have enchanted and entranced me over the past season, but these printed and bound works are a good selection. Now, I’m off to do some writing of my own, and then a little Friday night reading.

Tell me, dear reader, what have you been reading in autumn? Anyone else a George R.R. Martin fan, or a Dear Sugar follower?

Nourished Life Gratitude List Week Three

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I often struggle with my life when I feel that normalcy is beginning to creep in; when I sense that cobwebs, and dear god – a schedule- has started to grow. This week was full of different jobs, different houses, a great number of workouts (five!) and some wonderful lunches. I have a lot to be grateful for in my life.

University life.

University life.

And thus, this week’s Nourished Life Gratitude List:

Monday: A refreshing Pop Pilates workout after my run was a strong start to the week.

Tuesday: An unexpected and delightful visit from my grandmother.

Wednesday: The best post-work nap ever that fuelled a great writing binge – 775 words!

Thursday: Company during my run.

Just a Thursday afternoon

Just a Thursday afternoon.

Friday: Listening to the inspiring words of Maya Angelou while spending quality time in the kitchen.

Saturday: A truly golden day. Great run, listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson (StarTalk Radio) while spending time with my sweetheart, all clear from the doctor (thyroid and iron back on track), and a wonderful evening in the company of friends.

Sunday: A peaceful Sunday morning reading my book (A Clash of Kings) with my favourite reading buddy – and great news from my Aussie Runner Goddesses Jenelle and Kate about their adventures at The Canberra Marathon weekend.

This week has been busy and beautiful, and the coming week promises much of the same. Monday also marks the start of my serious training for the Gold Coast Half Marathon, which is only twelve weeks away! I can’t wait to get back into training now that my lungs are being friendly again. Amongst my university assignments I’m also hoping to get some more personal writing done, and of course, keep myself busy in the kitchen – I still owe you all a family dinner recipe!

Tell me, dear reader, what are you most grateful for over the last week?

Nourished Mind: On My Shelf in 2013

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It’s been a while since my last bookshelf post so I thought now, with the early onslaught of wintery weather here in Brisbane, it might be an opportune time to share some of the best reads that have featured on my night stand or in my beach bag over the past couple of months.

My Berlin Kitchen: A Love Story with Recipes by Luisa Weiss (published by Viking Adult, 2012)

Luisa has the most beautiful blog at ‘The Wednesday Chef’ where she shares stories of her peripatetic early life and her family life now in Berlin. Reading ‘My Berlin Kitchen’ is like peaking into someone’s diary at different stages of their life, and watching a woman grow into her own soul. As the title states this is a love story, and Luisa’s has a wonderfully happy ending – filled with mouthwatering food of course. I savoured every page of this book. Now I’m just trying to figure out the right occasion to pull out her recipe for jam doughnuts – who am I kidding? Do you really need an occasion for doughnuts.

The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods by Sara Forte. Photographed by Hugh Forte (published by Ten Speed Press, 2012).

I am a Sprouted Kitchen blog junkie. I will gladly admit to spending hours reading through posts that I have read before. Sara lures you to her kitchen table with tales of life and food and Hugh supplies delightful photos to accompany his wife’s words. I read this volume cover to cover when it arrived on my doorstep last year. One of my favourite recipes so far is toasted millet with arugula, quick pickled onions and goat cheese, and I can’t wait to make a winter supper featuring the braised white beans and leeks.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (published by Penguin, 2007)

A classic that I am ashamed to admit that I hadn’t read yet. Michael Pollan’s ‘In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto‘ was the book that changed my shopping habits from supermarket to farmer’s market, which has become such an important and enriching weekly ritual. The Omnivore’s Dilemma is divided into three main sections where Pollan traces his meal from paddock (be that an industrial corn field, a large-scale organic production, a pasture where everything is connected, or a forest field) to plate and accounts for the costs, both moral and environmental, along the way. A must-read for those who are endlessly curious about our food systems, or just want to think a little more deeply about the eternal question: what’s for dinner?

A Game of Throne: Book One of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire‘ by George R.R. Martin (published by Bantam Books, 1996)

I’m only two-hundred pages into this first tome in a series of seven, but I am already in love with Martin’s depth of description and the way he weaves the stories of multiple characters across a vast world into a tangled-yet-intimate epic. This is the book that I have been needing for a long time; a juicy epic fantasy that I can’t put down. Thank you for a perfect Valentine’s Day present Chris.

In other book related news, I have just started my internship with the Australian Writer’s Marketplace at The Queensland Writer’s Centre! I am so lucky to be spending the next six months dabbling in the real world of writing and authors. I can’t wait to see what I’ll learn.

Queensland State Library

Queensland State Library

So dear reader, what is sitting on your bedside table at the moment, or keeping you company on your commute?

Nourished Mind: On my shelf in November

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One of my favourite things about summer holidays is the promise of a large stack of books and hours to fill lost within their pages. I have an ambitiously long reading list for this summer, too long in fact to really share, or even commit to paper. I have years worth of must-buy best-sellers to catch up on, classics to study to plumb gaps in my modern education, and non-fiction titles to stretch my science-minded brain in different directions.

Here are some of the titles that have filled my first month of summer:

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister (published by HarperCollins, 2009)

The hard, round cake of chocolate was wrapped in yellow plastic with red stripes, shiny and dark when she opened it. The chocolate made a rough sound as it brushed across the fine section of the grater, falling in soft clouds onto the counter, releasing a scent of back rooms filled with bittersweet chocolate and old love letters, the bottom drawers of antique desks and the last leaves of autumn, almonds and cinnamon and sugar. (p.36)

Erica Bauermeister weaves this enchanting story of ordinary people with tales of their time in the kitchen, and what food represents in their lives. Each character’s journey surrounds an essential ingredients: chocolate, apples, ripe summer tomatoes; more importantly each character’s journey leads them to the most essential ingredient of all: love.

A Homemade Life: stories and recipes from my kitchen table by Molly Wizenberg (published by Simon & Schuster, 2009)

The first book by the wonderful Molly Wizenberg has been acclaimed in all corners for good reason: this memoir begins at the kitchen table and I truly felt like one of the family because Molly weaves each chapter’s tale as though she is regaling a friend over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake, or sustaining them with hope in the face of hurt through a winter dinner of butternut soup. I cried, I laughed, and I grew hungrier and hungrier with each page.

Year of Wonders: a novel of the plague by Geraldine Brooks (published by HarperCollins, 2001)

Cold, dark and lonely landscapes filled my mind when I read Geraldine Brooks’ novel of a small English countryside village during the plague. Isolating themselves by choice to avoid infecting the surrounding towns, the community must learn to live, and to die, with only each other for solace. Anna Frith is an unlikely heroine, but one you will soon grow to love as she grows, and survives through her ‘year of wonders’.

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy, Book One) by Deborah Harkness (published by Headline, 2011)

I could tell you that my absence from the virtual world has been caused by the fact that I am in the midst of wedding celebration madness twice over (both my best friends are getting married in December!), and that I am up to my elbows in butter, flour, and sugar (I know, poor me…), and both of these excuses would be honest; however, a lot of the blame also falls on this book. I was immediately caught up in the story of Diana Bishop – academic, witch, rower, and tea drinker – and Matthew – scientist, vampire, and oenophile. Magic, science, history, and love course through their journey to save an ancient manuscript whose echoes threaten their future together. I dare you not to get lost in the pages of this one – and oh! it’s the first of a trilogy…

Tell me, dear reader, what books are you lost in at the moment? Are you a fiction devotee? Any particular genre? or are you a non-fiction junkie? Any specific topics?

Reading, and Writing, and Me – oh my!

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source (my apologies, I couldn’t find the original source)

I have spoken before about my love of books, and reading, and words themselves (although I must get back into the habit of sharing my monthly reading list), and the fact that I went back to university to pursue this love down a more professional path.

Yesterday I took another leap in the professional direction and met with some lovely people at a local arts organisation about interning in their offices early next year. Guess what? I start in February! Now, it is only one day per week, and only for a semester, but I am sowing the seeds in the great earth of the universe and seeing what grows.

Wandering around the city yesterday morning.

Small steps, but steps none-the-less, towards my longer term vision of living my life among words and pages, and the people dedicated to them. I feel a tingling of excitement, of chances and choices ahead. I finally feel like I am steering myself along a course authentic to who I am inside. I am growing into my own skin. Stretching out the places that need strengthening and nourishment. Paring back the parts that have become a little too chunky and overindulged. I am living my life with love, filling it with that which feeds me, and seeking out the good, the inspirational, the hopeful.

More of our beautiful ‘river city’

This Monday I handed in my last assignment for the year. I owe a debt of gratitude (and baking) to my wonderful family and friends (including my ‘virtual’ best friends – you know who you are ladies) who have nursed me through this first academic year and put up with my near-manic episodes of talking about all things writing, editing, and publishing. Thank you for your patience with this want-to-be word doctor, and your skills in encouraging me when I seemed lost in a cyber-trance of essay writing at 3am.

I feel a little unsure now. I have 100 days of summer to enjoy, and many exciting plans to fill at least the next six weeks. Expect to see a lot of baking, two weddings and assorted celebrations (my two best friends are both getting married in December!), and more running and adventures. Also, probably a lot of musing and navel-gazing (as is my nature).

In my natural habitat.

Tomorrow the pre-wedding celebrations begin for my darling Casey, as we head up the coast for a girl’s weekend. Cooling on the kitchen bench right now are the Cumin and Thyme Scones that she favours with her aged cheddar (recipe tomorrow). I plan on walking on the beach, sipping a glass of wine by the pool, catching up with friends, and spoiling Casey silly all weekend.

My darling reader, have you any exciting news to share with me? Any weekend plans?

All about books…

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For some women it is diamonds; or expensive designer clothes; a tall, dark, and handsome stranger; or, chocolates and roses every other Friday. But the one thing guaranteed to make me weak in the knees every, single, time is a book. The merest mention of a visit to a bookshop is sure to excite in me such emotions as: sheer, unadulterated joy; a wistful, nostalgic look as I remember past visits as some women remember lovers; frantic list-making to ensure that I don’t miss any of the newly discovered books and authors that I just need to investigate; or, desperate attempts to retrieve missing change from between the cushions of the couch so that I can afford such beauties.

In fact there are only a few other things that bring me as much happiness as anything book-related: my family and friends (of course), running, chocolate, plane travel (oh yes, I am a weird one, I know), and my darling dog Molly.

So today I am starting a new monthly section where I will share a few of my recent book-related obsessions for those of you who share my bibliophilic tendencies.

The book-ish list:

  • I am an avid reader of The Guardian online, especially their book section, and I adore listening to the The Guardian Books podcast when I am out for a walk or a run.
  • In fact, I first stumbled across the enchanting The Bookshop Band while listening to one of The Guardian’s podcasts. This band of bibliophiles and musically-gifted people compose songs inspired by books that are chosen by the staff of Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights. The songs are played at events that take place at the bookshop. You can listen to their tracks online. Great music to inspire some writing, or book-devouring!
  • Another great website for keeping up with book-ly discussions is the ‘Books’ page of The Daily Beast. The ‘Women in the World’ section is also worth checking out.
  • For some visual stimulation check out bookporndaily, oh yeah…

Currently on my night stand?

And I’ve just finished reading ‘Past the shallows‘ by Favel Parrett. A wild, emotional tale from an emerging Australian author. Set in Tasmania, this is a haunting tale of family secrets, brotherhood, and the power of water.

My dear readers, what are your latest book-ish finds? What was the last thing you couldn’t put down (or made you hungry in the middle of the night…)?

On the shelf: on a night like this

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Tonight, the world is closing in on itself. Outside my window the view is obscured by rain; night is a damp, cold shroud over our house. No starlight can break through the cover of cloud. We are huddled in our little house, under blankets with our hands wrapped around mugs of tea. A little craving satisfied by a few chocolates, some strawberries from the local farm, and a few crackers with creamy dollops of avocado.

Here in this closed in world we are together, but alone. We all retreat to our corners to occupy our minds and hands with that which soothes our soul. Mum watches TV and loses herself in solving crimes. Dad drafts, and plans, and makes bits and pieces come back to life. The newlyweds do university work, or plan for their future.

Me? I read. Sometimes books, sometimes magazines, sometimes the beautifully crafted words of those who participate in this small, vast world of blogging.

On a night like this, I am losing myself in the words and images of these talented and insightful folks:

  • Dreaming of my next grand adventure in the USA. I long to criss-cross the landscape, revel in the view outside my window, and be privy to small towns that are missed in guidebooks. I was thinking of driving, but this article in Audobon Magazine makes me think a train journey would be pleasant. I wonder if I could hop off somewhere in Colorado for a hiking trip?
  • Falling even more in love with making bread, and wondering if I could have a bonfire night where I could use this idea from the inspiring lads and lasses at Kinfolk.
  • I purchased ‘Tender Vol. 1‘ over a year ago, and received ‘Tender Vol. 2′ (a.k.a. ‘Ripe’) for my birthday. I admired their weighty promise on first glance, and managed a cursory look when they first came into my possession. On these long nights I am enjoying the conversation of Nigel Slater, the evocative earthiness of his words, and the new life he is breathing into my vegetables and fruits. Expect inspired recipes here soon.

Cliff House – San Francisco. Another rainy day. Hope to be back soon…

My bed is calling to me early tonight. I am going to hibernate under the blankets and warm myself with dreams of travel, the heat of a proving oven, and summer tomatoes from an English garden….

Wednesday ‘On the Shelf’: The gift of fairy tales

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Once upon a time…
In a kingdom far, far away…
There lived a brave…
There lived a beautiful…
An enchanted forest where dragons, elves, and fairies dwell surrounded the castle…

There is something about fairy tales that whispers to our soul. Across ages, pages, and the passage of time, a deeper part of ourselves recognises and identifies with the lure of once upon a time, and the promise of happily ever after.
Fairy tales amplify all the parts of human nature; the good, the bad, and the ugly become the saintly and effervescent, the wicked and evil, and the warty and weird.
Our beginnings, average and suburban, become once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away.
Our homes become castles, our challenges and fears become dragons and evil queens.
Everyday life and the steps we take to move towards our dreams are woven into quests and searches for lost treasure.
Unexpected delights and the rewards for hard work are transformed into magic, true love’s first kiss, and happily ever after.

Fairy tales existed long before the wonderful Grimms brothers and Hans Christian Anderson decided to write them down. These tales are of a deeper time, a far away time, which may or may not have existed, but they have lessons for us in contemporary society. Simple to complex, heartening to terrifying, these tales carry messages that are timeless. Morals and ethics woven throughout the trials and triumphs of fair maidens and knights in shining armour. Fairy tales are finding a place in psychotherapy to help people explore deeper themes and trials in their life. Through identifying with characters and situations patients are able to navigate their way through disturbances in their lives and find hope and healing and even their own happy end.

My favourite fairy tale has always been ‘Beauty and the Beast’. The central tenet that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, not the reflection of the beholden, and that beauty lies in the heart of everyone.

I truly believe that we all find our happily ever afters but we need to keep our eyes open to recognise them, because sometimes they don’t start in a castle with once upon a time.

My dear reader, what is your favourite fairy tale and why?

Thursday Good Things

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Brisbane in winter. The fickle lion who at once will roar with might, and then mew like a kitten.

This week has seen stormy nights and days with skies of brightest blue.

Autumn leaves on a tree

The cold stays though, lighter during the day when sunny patches can be sought, then heavier at night when the only thing to do is snuggle under the patchwork quilt my Mama made me with a cup of tea and a book. So then, in the spirit of a fickle winter, as I am on occasion a fickle woman ruled by the weather, I present to you my list of good things this Thursday.

This is an issue that divides many people, in many countries, but for my opinion, I believe in marriage equality. The right for any of us to declare to society that we love someone, and we commit to them, in the most binding of ways. GetUp Australia has released a beautiful video about marriage laws in Australia.

Now, for the lighter side of the list. I am currently on holidays and scrambling to catch up on some much-neglected reading. I am a true lover of cosy mysteries so you can bet there are a few of those on my shelf to be enjoyed in the spirit of all things Marple. One series that has recently caught my fancy is the ‘Cupcake Bakery Mysteries’ by Jenn McKinlay. I read the first in the series (Sprinkle with Murder) while I was writing my assignments and I was instantly enchanted and had to order the whole series. Immediately. Others on my reading list include novels by John Connolly, which promise to be darkly gothic and ghostly – perfect for winter reading; ‘The Marriage Plot‘ by Jeffrey Eugenides – recommended to me by my lovely friend Jenny; and, continuing my Geraldine Brooks obsession (I just finished ‘People of the Book’ not twenty minutes ago), ‘Year of Wonders: a novel of the plague‘.

To balance out all that snuggling under my quilt, I will be keeping up my training for the Southern Cross University 10km run. This race is part of the Gold Coast Marathon festival, where I completed the half marathon last year, this year Jess and I will be up early and doing the 10km race while Mum and Dad do the 5.7km walk. Nothing like team spirit! Especially at 5.30am in the middle of winter….

Oh, and one last really good thing for the list, because I really never can have too many red sequins in my closet….(check these out)

Wednesday – On the Shelf

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When I started thinking what I wanted this new blog to be I decided that I definitely wanted to have regular posting ‘themes’. Although I certainly enjoyed just posting whatever came to mind when I first started blogging, I really want Thoroughly Nourished Life to have a more regular presence. I want to be able to be a little more prepared, to have something to set myself to think about, or an already established avenue for writing about something that has come to mind.

With all that in my head I have decided that Wednesdays will be ‘On the Shelf’ day. Each week this post will share something book or word related. At the moment I am taking a class on issues in contemporary publishing (yes, on a Wednesday night) and I always leave feeling inspired to write something about the state of the bookly world.

Tonight, for the inaugural ‘On the Shelf’ post I offer a small essay on why in my world ‘words = love’.

Fully stacked bookshelves in a second hand bookstore

My heart's home.

I am a word addict.

Yes, hello my name is Amy and I am addicted to words.

I want to constantly consume them, be ever surrounded by them.
I want to be coated in words like that last peanut in the very corner of the packet that gathers with all the salt granules.

They feed me, my soul would wither without their healing, nourishing, sustaining power.

When the world seems bleak they bring their sunshine or an umbrella.

When disaster strikes I seek their solace and counsel.

I am never bored, for the merest hint of text and context can keep me entertained.

I fall asleep in the curve of a ‘C’.

And wake up falling down the slippery dip of an ‘S’.

I want to walk through my days holding the hands of a friendly ‘F’ and an entertaining ‘E’.

I am the girl who caresses covers and lovingly admires a book with every sense.

A touch for the cover, the pages.

The scent. New – where you can smell the printer’s ink still on the page. Old – catching a whiff of the lives this book has been part of.

Taste. What new recipes, what exotic treats, what form of sweetness will this book inspire in my mind.

Sight. Are you sharp with new edges, or crinkled at the spine. Is the text bold and new age, or so embellished that the book needs no other artwork.

Sound. Do you thud closed, or merely elicit a whisper as your pages open and shut.

I have a history with words. I was soothed with lullabies as a tiny baby, in English and in Danish.

My Dad would even make up songs to sing my sister and I to sleep, and let us crawl into his and Mum’s big bed so he could read and snuggle with us.

My Mum is the checker of assignments, the muse to a thousand stories and songs. The listener to many grand plans and myriad tiny plot changes.

She took my sister and I to countless children’s library days, reading groups, second hand bookstores and other places where words live and lurk.

My favourite way to spend time with my Mum is still going to the second hand bookstore. It is our Saturday morning tradition.

As we grew, my sister and I devoured books even more rapidly than we devoured m&ms and salted liquorice. We still do.

Yummy, indeed.

We give each other piles of books for Christmas, and birthdays, and every celebration in between.

Between the pages, in the midst of the lines, we find adventure though we never have to leave our armchairs.

We find knowledge and answers. And questions, always more questions, that lead to another book, another story, another place.

We understand the power that words wield.

The way my Mum and sister become so encapsulated in the world of the author that only a fog horn can get their attention.

The many, many sleepless nights my Dad has had because he can never put a book down once he starts.

The way my books are treated like precious children and I can never bear to part with any of them.

We are readers, listeners, talkers, texters, emailers, note leavers.

We are a family of many words. Some spoken, many written.

Nearly all of them out of love.

So yes, my name is Amy and I am a word addict.

Because words, in my mind, are synonymous with love.