People Of Book Novels & Stories

I stopped at the library door and smiled to myself. ‘Books are better than people. Books don’t hate on you for something you didn’t do.’ I pushed the door open and breathed in the wonderful smell of books. ‘Paradise.’ I strolled to the shelves and scanned through the books, reading their names off their spines. ‘It seems Dante wasn’t joking when he said half of his library was filled horrors.’ A book caught my eye, and I pulled it from the others. “Bone and Souls by B. Brian.” I read the name aloud and skimmed through the description behind it. “This seems interesting.”

They wandered through the aisles, running their fingers along spines that held countless worlds within their pages. Emily's eyes sparkled with excitement as she plucked a weathered book from the shelf. "Liam, look at this," she exclaimed, her voice filled with wonder. "It's a collection of love letters from different eras. Each page holds the raw emotions of someone's heart."

She smiled, placing her hands on her waist. "Really? there's a library? Yes!" I clenched my right fist frantically in the air, excitement written all over me. Back at home, A Library was an abomination. I guess I forgot to mention there was a rule about books also? Well, here it goes. Eric had concluded that books lie. He had this ludicrous theory that books trap people. He said it's similar to a disease, a terrible sickness that has no cure. Makes humans rapted in an imaginary world, completely forgetting what reality brings.

The ladies all giggle and Julie stands, handing a new bookmark to each of us. "Yes. We figured we'd get you ones that suited you a little better." she says. The new one is dark blue with gold lettering that says 'Real men read dirty books'. I smile and look over at Ev who's showing Harper his excitedly. "These are great. Thank you." I say just as Bri nudges me. "Oh! Tell them your joke, love!" Harper says excitedly. Ev rolls his eyes before addressing the group.

A book was different. A book was permanent in a way that speeches were not. A book existed in the world independently of whether I was in a good place when it was read, independently of the specific room and the specific audience and the specific night. A book could be read by my children when they were old enough to read it. A book could be read by people who hated me, people who had opinions about what I should have done differently, people who had never experienced anything adjacent to what I was describing and would bring that absence to the reading. A book required a different kind of exposure than standing at a podium.

"I want this book to remember everyone." "The midwife who delivered children during the war." "The farmer who shared his harvest during the famine." "The teacher who reopened the first village school." "The blacksmith who forged tools instead of weapons." He looked around the room. "A kingdom is never built by heroes alone." His words settled deeply into the hearts of every student present. One young girl slowly raised her hand. "Will there be room for ordinary people?" Cassian smiled. "My dear..." He closed the book carefully. "Those are exactly the people it was made for."

He blinked. “I am going to need an explanation.” “This shelf is for people looking for hope.” She pointed toward another. “Those are for people who need courage.” “And this one?” “Forgiveness.” He looked around the room with renewed curiosity. “So none of this is alphabetical.” “Absolutely not.” “I have been living a lie.” Ava laughed, the sound carrying warmly through the quiet library. “I simply think books should meet people when they are ready.” He looked down at the novel still in his hands.

“Bree, what was that?” Brianna was occupied flipping through the first book, so she didn’t answer at first. He saw her shocked expression and got by her side to check the name of the book she was reading. ‘The peacemaker fallacy: waging war as a business strategy’ Nate frowned, trying to make sense out the title. “Bree, what is it?” “Love… it’s about the Council. All of them, look.” She got a few pieces of paper that didn’t belong to any book and showed him what she saw.

I asked Callum. "You'll see in a second, sugarplum." He replied with a smirk, kissing my cheek. We found the seating, and saw around thirty people sitting, many with the same book in their hands. They were chatting quietly, waiting for the author. I instantly recognized the book as A Black and White World by one of my favorite author's Zara Jones. My palms began to sweat as we sat down in the back. "Oh my God Callum, I could die right now." I whispered in excitement.