You want a friend around you and if they can’t be around you, at least you know that they’re thinking about you or you’re thinking about them. You might have a picture of them on your phone or hanging in your house to remind you of a good time and the moment you’re back together, it’s like you never left.

I don’t necessarily remember the ending or even the main character’s name of a book, rather I remember the feeling I got when I closed it. And that feeling stays with me like the feelings of being with or talking to friends. And just like that picture on the wall, I’ve got a bookshelf that’s the perfect reminder of all of our favorite pastimes together. It’s not a cluttered shelf with the new crowding out the best. It’s simply, a bookshelf of the best.

My book friends can be grouped in to a few different categories like we have friends at work, childhood friends, or college friends. I’ve got ‘beautifully written’ friends like A Northern Light by Donnelly, North of Beautiful by Chen, and Flash Burnout by Madigan. I’ve got ‘creative’ friends like The Vagina Monologues by Ensler, Crank by Hopkins, and The Virgin Suicides by Eugenides. ‘Classics’ like Emily Dickinson’s poetry and Brave New World by Huxley. Or, ‘can’t-put-down’s’ like Loving Frank by Horan.

At any time, like calling up a good friend, I can just pull one off the shelf with a cup of tea, snuggle in, and indulge, as I have indulged in sharing what makes Eliot’s quote realistic and apropos for any reader.