Hey-o good people and a merry Saturday to you! It's sunny here, it has been for a few days and I am  LOVING it! I am mostly in a good mood, I always am when it's sunny but I have added reasons to be. My last uni project received a First (essentially an A, in case you don't know) which I don't want to brag about but I am very proud of, but it means they're keeping a hold onto my submission to double check the grade is correct, so I can't post my pictures from said project yet as I don't have the memory stick - argh! Nevertheless the next - and final project of first year - has been launched and we have to make a photobook which I'm very excited for.

It comes to no surprise that I love books and although it's been a long while since I've read some beloved fiction, my thoughts about books remain the same... I like to make books feel read. That sounds bizarre but I do. I like to crack the spine, fold the corner of the page rather than use a bookmark and now I've begun underlining parts that really resonate with me, as you can see above.

Some of you a probably launching your blog reading devices across the room right now thinking that's sacrilege, but books were made to be read - so read them rather than protecting them and handling with care just because it's a book. I do have exceptions of course, like if it's a photobook or a library book - in which case they are adorned with colourful tabs stuck to the best pages. And when buying a book - I got two semi-educational ones very recently - I always pick out the one in best condition. Contradicting myself? No, I accept books get battered in bags and such (even though I am sad at the first mark) but I like to make my own "book bruises", because it's my book after all and the marks on it are mine and tell the story of where I've taken it to be read, as well as the actual story inside.

I have books from school complete with highlights and annotations inside. I have books with rippled pages where the rain has soaked through. I have books littered with tabs to mark my favourite pictures to revisit later when I need a dose of inspiration. I have books with bent spines and scuffed up covers. I have books with creased corners. I have books in boxes and on shelves and in bags ready to read when I get bored enough out and about. I have books with tea stains when I've partnered a good read with a cup of tea. But I also have books in perfect neat condition.

I never feel like I read enough and I'm always wanting more books when I ran out of shelf space years ago. But books make me happy, they're a welcome distraction from the world, and more often now my collection is growing from just fiction novels, an interesting addition to how I live in the world with all it's factual insight. And because I love them so much, I make sure to make the most of the book and read it thoroughly; cracking the spine so I can hold it easier, folding the corners of the pages to not let a bookmark slip out anyway - or break when I fiddle with it while reading - and marking the sentences the author has written so beautifully.

I encourage you to do this with your books too. It was a slow process for me to get up to this point of making these "book bruises", I used to use (and collect) bookmarks religiously and never ever crack the spine no matter what. Even now I only write on the pages in pencil but I expect it's only a matter of time before I whip out a pen to read with. Perhaps begin like I did with sticky tabs and pencils galore, or even with a book you don't mind about so much - an old one or second hand so your marks aren't so strikingly out of place. And try not to mourn when it gets boshed in your bag and accept these "book bruises" as your own.