Home is where the books are.

I hope that my personal experience with these titles inspires someone who needs a push to try something new.

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Do you have books that feel like home? I am not a huge re-reader of books, but I have a handful that I can always go back to when I need a literary reset. It’s almost like they throw me back in time to some happier place where things were simpler. Easier.

Growing up, my mother used to gather us around the fireplace at night before bed and tell us stories about what she was reading at the time. I specifically remember the night she began to tell us about Harry Potter. I was sitting on our retro green striped couch with my brothers and my mom was sitting on the hearth. All the lights were off and the fire crackled warmly in the fireplace, a comfortable presence. She began to tell us about the characters and I remember thinking, “Wow. The person who wrote this is magic.” Never before had I felt so excited to open those books one day myself. To this day, it is one of my fondest family memories and it reminds me that a love of reading has been nurtured in me since an early age, and I am thankful for it.

Which leads me to today's books. It's likely that I read these at a pivotal point of my life and so they are near and dear to my heart. That's usually how it happens right? And that's why they feel like home.

The first book is The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. This is the story of loss and discovery in the south during the Civil Rights Movement. Lily Owens is a motherless girl whose life feels incomplete, so she sets out with Rosalee, her caretaker, to find out answers about her life that elude her. Along the way, she forms irreplaceable relationships with women who teach her strength and the power of friendship. When I read this book I was young, I was unhappy, and I loved it. I related to Lily on a level that I didn't really understand and because of that I think this is a good choice for young women to read. Not only do you get insight into the relationships that were so hard to nurture during a hard time in history, but you learn lessons that only other young women can teach you. I have read this book at least five times, several of which during adulthood and every time, I learn something new about myself.

The second book is a classic that everyone knows about: Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. In this novel, Elizabeth Bennet explores life through the lens of rebellion and eventually comes to find happiness in unlikely places. Personally, I believe this is one of the greatest love stories of all time. The first time I read this, I was in the eighth grade. Though I didn't understand a lot of the language at the time, as I got older I kept being drawn back again and again to Elizabeth and Darcy, as so many others have been before me.

Lastly, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, by J.K. Rowling. If you don’t know HP then I suggest you go get it from your local library immediately. Harry Potter is been a part of my life since before I can remember - not to be dramatic, I literally can’t remember a time of my life that Harry Potter wasn’t in it. Growing up, things were hard and it was amazing to me that I could be transported to a world of magic and possibility just by turning a page. To this day, I am overjoyed by the fact that travel is as easy as cracking the spine of a book and diving in. Harry Potter is a coming of age saga that I think everyone should read. I chose the seventh book because it is the most interesting to me, but truly any book in the series would do. Honestly, they’re just so entertaining to read, and the movies are pretty great too. The last thing I’ll say about these is that if audiobooks are your thing, Jim Dale does a phenomenal job narrating the entire series.

So there you have it! I know a lot of this was me going on and on about my personal connection with some books that you may or may not have any interest in, but it has truly been a pleasure writing my first post to Bel’s Books. I am excited to begin this journey and hope I can help you find a book you love!