Books and I go far back. Since the moment we met, it was instant attraction. I can see myself at the age of three opening one and trying to guess what were the secrets hidden there. Sometimes we played a game of clues, with pictures hinting what worlds awaited me there. Characters in books became my friends.

Hint -> The smiley one in the picture is obviously me, could not be otherwise!

Books were my first source of adventure. Having been born in an ex-USSR country, Republic of Moldova, where literacy was really high and a big priority but there was little access to books. I had to get creative. Buying books was not a possibility, as new books were a luxury my family could not afford. We all know that once you meet face to face with the joy of reading, being deprived of some literary company can make us take extreme measures. So thus began my silent relationship with books, hiding in the public library, reading as much as I could. Since I was young and the library was far from home, I was not allowed to go there. So I would skip some school lessons (that I would consider unnecessary ☺) take the bus for about 20 minutes and get to the public library. There, I would read all the books I could manage and rush back home, so that no one would notice that I was not in school. Books taught me that you need to step a little bit out of your comfort zone in order to experience the world.

From that moment on, books became my own happy, intimate place where exciting new worlds awaited me, where I could daydream peacefully. Books were, and are, such a healthy addiction for me that I can honestly say, looking back, that they kept me sane during some harsh times of my childhood and adolescence. They helped me understand that every story has its moment of happiness and its moments of tension, that life is not a straight line and that that is part of its charm. I learned that life often has moments of sadness and disappointment, but they only accentuate the sweetness in life. Literature helped me understand the ever changing cadence of life.

When I moved to Italy, books went with me. They were that little piece of home I needed. Books told me that it might be sad to say goodbye, but more people will come and that will only enrich further my life, and that you can always go back, reminiscent. They taught me about the human nature, about how people feel and how people react. They gave me the gift of empathy. They have influenced, since then, every single friendship I have.

So much of the person I am today I owe to books. Reading empowered and inspired me. It made me believe that I could do literally anything! Ah well, almost anything! Thanks to literature I became the curious, adventurous person I am. Because of them, I have a thirst for stories that never ceases. A reader will want to travel the world and explore the quiet south that Faulkner describes or try to find in every Columbian a piece of the imaginary city of Macondo. Books provided me with the words to describe the beauty of cultures. They helped me understand that I deserve an amazing life, filled with stories, mine and others, which in time led me to create a project evolving around them.

Books, are now, sport for my brain!