Glynis Salmon, Contributor 
IAN ALLEN /Staff Photographer -
Yvonne Brewster, right, raps with a fan while signing her recently published book 'The Undertaker's Daughter' at the Bolivar Bookshop in Kingston last Saturday.
I AM in love. I don't know when it happened, I don't know how. I don't know if it was the look ... the smell, the touch, but I do know that when I got between the covers and opened up I fell in love.
And to think that I was only at the tender age of four or five years old ... but as soon as my mind awoke to the ABCs and the phonics of it all, I was in super-cali-fragi-listic-espiali-docious LOVE. I was umdiddley-diddle-daah, the cat and the fiddle, tick-tock, the mouse ran up the clock wonderfully, dreamily, excitingly in love ... and I have never stopped loving the habit of reading ever since.
In fact, as I grew older, I fell even more deeply in love, developing a passionate, insatiable desire for reading and, I must admit, I indulge my taste in reading matter most indiscriminately. I read everything ... the stories, the poems, the articles, the reference material, the academic enquiries, the how-to material, the motivational explorations, the religious discourse, the labels on a product... every and any blessed thing. Fiction and non-fiction, sense and non-sense, textbooks and general books, Playboy and the Bible, I read them all, morning, noon and night ... every chance I get.
COMPLAINTS
I have fallen out of love, mind you many times too but not ever with a book. I have fallen out of love with company boys and girls the type who selfishly get upset with the light being on 'til odd hours in the morning; or get annoyed by the slightly-rustling sound of turning pages, and complain that I disturb their sleep, when in fact it is their complaints that disturb my reading. The said companions whom I have often had to look upon with a jaundiced eye, when they become unreasonable in their demand for my attention, at a time when I simply must, at the very least, finish the chapter (which could, if I am clever, extend into many more chapters, before I yield, unwillingly, to their demands). Of course, by the time I close my book, in deference to their pestering, my belated welcome of their attentions is often greeted with a back turned to me in cold and frigid protest, or a mouth tightly scrunched in a pout of complaint.
Well, I can't deny, I love to read. For when I first met Dick and Dora and Nip the dog, the three little pigs and Jeremy mouse; not to mention Jack and Jill, Little Red Riding Hood, The Wizard of Oz, fairies, elves and witches and other magical creations of my childhood literature ... who could fault me for moving on to Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Marco Polo, Arabian Nights, Archie, Veronica and Betty and the journeys that led me Around the World in 80 Days and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea?
Tell me, would you not celebrate, as the school years opened up pages and pages of literature, that had me delving into the realms of comprehension,
critical analysis and the heights of literary consciousness, that propelled me to excellence
in the subjects of English
and Literature consistently, throughout my schooling?
THERAPEUTIC VALUE
Who among you cannot understand the therapeutic value of retreating from a hard day's work, to the creative imaginings, or the deep philosophisings, or the thoughtful research of an author? Who is it that cannot appreciate the absolute joy and relaxation of being seated on the throne, in regal repose, releasing the mind to the subject matter of a magazine, newspaper or the label on the toothpaste or some other toiletry? Or conversely, the agony of finding yourself locked in the unfortunate position of retiring to the chamber without the appropriate reading matter to flush the mind with?
How can you not want to travel the world and meet people, places and things in a first-class mode of transport that is relatively inexpensive, faster than a concord and more exciting than a space shuttle?
How can you be sad, lonely or forlorn, when at the slight flick of a wrist, and a turn of a page, you can share the company of a counsellor, motivator, healer, friend or a whole party of people and other animals?
Reading for me is relaxing, energising, fulfilling, learning, developing, sharing, reflecting, laughing, crying, searching, enjoying ... an amazing experience of all of life's experiences ... and the more I read, the more
I want to read. My only other desire is to summon up the
discipline and the courage to immortalise my thoughts as
an author in book format and
catalogue my offering in the library of books available for all to read and enjoy.
The Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ) sends Cupid's arrow to your mind, knowing that once smitten, you will be twice, thrice and many times bitten by the wondrous love of reading.
Fall in love with reading this Valentine's day and may you and your books live happily ever after.
Glynis Salmon is a
publishing executive and
communications specialist
gsalmon@carlpub.com.
