Most writers are readers. Some are even painters.

I have a tattered quote taped inside one of my journals. It reads A house without books is like a room without windows. This coveted phrase, written by Horace Mann sometime in the mid-1800s, has been my reminder to read and write. Often.

For me, a house without books would be not having the opportunity to investigate our cultural past, nor fill slower moments with entertaining trivia, or keep dreams of future hopes or promises alive. It is ‘armchair living' at its best.  

Maybe you’ve felt a similar urge to break a spine or two while curled up in a comfy chair, hugging the covers of a book you couldn’t put down, wondering what happens next yet not wanting it to end. Did the author’s imagery illuminate multiple senses, elevate your awareness, or plunge your fear into the endless depths of some faraway canyon?

I’ve been there. Right there, walking alongside the protagonist, jumping back as a sports car approached too closely in a sc...