Who else agrees with me on this? That no matter where we are, it will always feel like we have been transported to a new destination whenever we pick up a book to read.

I feel that way all the time when I had my nose buried between the pages of a book. Carlos Ruiz Zafon took me to the olden days of Barcelona. Cathy Kelly brought me through the streets of Ireland. Elif Shafak was my tour guide in Turkey and Istanbul. And now, Jimmy Carter is wading through the murky waters with me in Georgia, Philadelphia, and Florida. Even though I was never physically there in those places.

That’s it, feel the gentle bookish breeze stroking your mind and stoking your imagination.

In the meantime, all this reading and bookish fever have prompted within me to draw up a glossary list (with a short caption for each letter) that most (and many) readers can relate to, although these alphabetical terms are more personal to me than to the masses:

A – Adventure

New travel destinations that a book takes me to through the pages and chapters that I covered.

B – Bookmark

Something which I use to mark the last page I was at before something else distracted me. Currently using a bookmark of the Eiffel Tower in Paris which my sister bought for me.

C – Cafes

Up until now, I have yet to find the perfect cafe (with little to zero noise pollution) to sit at and read while enjoying my hot or iced cup of matcha latte.

D – Dictionary

The Scrabble Collins Dictionary is useful, especially when I stumble upon new words in the books I read.

E – Emotional Quandary

Some books leave me in an emotional mess; I don’t cry but I can sometimes feel my heart breaking into tiny pieces.

F – Fantasy

My first book genre was fantasy by David Gemmell and David Eddings before I learnt the existence of J. K. Rowling and J. R. R. Tolkien.

G – Goodreads

Goodreads is the best place and my favourite website to be on when it comes to doing research on titles that I might want to buy. Tumblr is the same as well, but not as widespread for me as Goodreads.

H – Holidays

The most prolific moments to read were during my school and college holidays. Now that I’m working, it’s a different story altogether.

I – Inspirational

Have you been inspired and motivated by the books you read? Does it make you want to change the world or change the way you are? I feel it sometimes.

J – Joy and Happiness

It probably goes without saying but every book that I have read have given me so much joy and happiness, which makes me want to read even more.

K – Kindle

I happen to own an Amazon Kindle e-Reader but I rarely use it because I’m a big fan of paperbacks! Although, I won’t discount it due to its convenience and portability.

L – Love and Romance

I tried this genre once, but it didn’t pique my interest long enough. The only one I ever read lately was 50 Shades of Grey by E. L. James.

M – Mystery

I’m not much of a mystery fan, but I did read Long Lost by Harlan Coben once. It was bearable, but that was it. Like I said, I’m not a fan of mystery.

N – New Books

This is a never-ending cycle for many book lovers. No matter how many books we have that are waiting to be read, we’d still buy more books… and add to it.

O – Overprotective

When my sister and I were first given the whole Harry Potter collection, we did set about wrapping the covers in plastic to avoid damages caused to the books. I don’t think we do that now though.

P – Paperbacks

Given a choice of paperbacks, hardcovers, or e-Books, I still prefer paperbacks because they’re cheaper, lighter, and easier to acquire. But mostly because they are cheaper.

Q – Queue

The only ‘queues’ I can think of, really, are the long line of books in my bookshelf that are waiting to be read and the titles in my wishlist.

R – Reading in Bed

No matter where I am; whether I’m on holiday or not, whether I’m at home or not, the only place I ever read my books are in bed. Which, more often than not, puts me to sleep eventually…

S – Snacks

I don’t usually have snacks with me while I read because I’d like to keep my hands clean when handling books, but if I do, it’s something that requires cutlery to be used. Yes, I’m a stickler for cleanliness.

T – Tea

The only beverage I make at home when I sit down for some quiet reading time. I used to drink coffee once upon a time, but that changed and now I’m a tea-drinker.

U – Underlining

I did this only ever once, with a red pen. But I stopped doing that now because it’ll only make it harder to sell a book secondhand to buyers if the pages were marked. But I see some booklr fans on Tumblr still doing this though.

V – Volumes

I avoid buying books that come in series or volumes because books in Malaysia can be really expensive. If a series has 5 volumes or more, the only thing I’ll hear is my bank account wailing like a banshee when I’m paying instead of the cashier’s voice.

W – Weekends

Actually, the best time period to catch up on my reading are the weekends. Holidays come in second best because I don’t have anymore month-long holidays unlike the time when I was in college.

Y – Young Adult

Fiction, in general, is what I love the most when it comes to reading. Literary and historical fiction. But I did try some young adult (YA) fiction, and while it may not be my cup of tea but I did find the titles by Rainbow Rowell pretty good and captivating.

Source: AbeBooks.com.

So, these are the letters of the alphabet that I can personally relate to when it comes to reading. I’m sure it could be different for you. Still, most are quite relatable and I hope you enjoyed the alphabetical journey.

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Additional Reading:

Here’s a little something I dug up while doing my research for this list. Words that every book lover should know by Huffington Post. From what I gathered, I’m a book-bosomed bibliophagist and literarian who is guilty of epeolatry. What about you?