Late-Night Reading and Reflection

I stayed up well into the night to finish a dark, yet heartwarming book entitled Ash by Malinda Lo.  I absolutely loved this book, a retelling of Cinderella, but with a fresh twist of its own filled with magic, fairy tales, a foreboding fairy prince, an honorable huntress, and a lost girl named Ash whose search for a home is at once heartbreaking, moving, and inspiring.  In the end of this poignant story, Ash makes her way out of the Wood and sees clearly for the first time in a long time with whom her heart and her home resides.

Needless to say, I didn't want this book to end, but the voracious reader in me and the persistent belief in happy endings willed me onward to the very end of this fairy tale.  Sigh.  It's been a long while since I discovered a book in which I was willing to stay up well past my bedtime to finish.

I love books like this.  I love the anticipation I feel in knowing the outcome of a story or the desperate need in me to read a significant passage repeatedly, hoping to sear the words in my mind's eye.  I love the feel of a crisp page under my fingertips and the impatient twitching of fingers that yearn to turn to the next page.  I love the press of a book against my heart, an attempt to quiet the heavy beating, as well as the scent of a well-read book invading my senses with promises of love, adventure, and great life lessons.  And I love the multitude of emotions that overwhelm me as a story unfolds, such as the sweet constriction around my heart, the sorrowful or blissful tears to my eyes, the excruciating agony and ire wracking my body, and the relief and ecstasy to my senses and well-being as a story reaches its crescendo, leaving me satiated yet desperately wanting more.  Sigh.  I love books.

I also love reflecting on the messages, truths, and lessons of a good book.  In this instant, after reading Ash, I thought long and hard about love and the obstacles which keep us from achieving it.  Ash could have lost hope and given in to an attitude, a person, and a world that she wasn't meant for given all that she lived through and the vast emptiness she felt in her solitude.  Yet, she refused to succumb and settle for a world that, despite its many sparkles and promises, could never provide a befitting substitute to true love and happiness and would have undoubtedly doubled the weight of emptiness she already felt.  In the end, Ash chose true love and in an instant, the world she found herself in appeared lighter and more alive than she could have ever imagined.  Sigh.  I love happy endings.

Put down the e-reader and pick up a book instead.  The possibilities are endless with a great read.