welcome to my world of reading!

Ever since I was little, I've loved stories. I'd spend my days pretending in the backyard, building twig castles for fairies, and "fighting crime" like Kim Possible. I adored spending time in imaginary worlds, traveling through new places, trying out new superpowers, and meeting new characters.

It wasn't until I got a little older (and running around pretending in the backyard started to seem a bit odd) that I met the new love of my life--reading. That's not to say I didn't still pretend and come up with stories of my own in my mind, but now I was able to continue my adventures within the written word. I'm guessing, if I were extraverted, I would have most likely fallen into theater; but, alas, I felt and am still most comfortable living between the lines. It's quite honestly my favorite place to be.

As a naturally quiet person, I have always struggled with vulnerability. I can listen to others talk about themselves and share their stories for hours on end, but if the page is ever turned to me, I start to clam up. It simply didn't seem possible that people would also want to hear what I had to say.

But as I've grown up (I'm now 22), I've found that the opposite is true--a valuable lesson I learned from writing. Keeping journals and writing down my own stories was the first step to opening up with others. Writing gave me the freedom to express my feelings and opinions without restraint or fear of judgement--it was a platform through which I was completely free. I grew to know myself better and to accept that I, too, am worthy of taking up space.

So, living between the lines of both books and journals have taught me invaluable lessons, allowed me to journey to far away places, and introduced me to some pretty amazing characters.

Now, I want to share in this passion with you. As the name suggests, this is a blog where we will "live between the lines," going on adventures together and exploring new worlds. I will be posting reviews, recommendations, hauls, and possibly even some stories of my own along the way.

One of my favorite quotes from one of my all-time favorite series is:

"Life's a book, and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read." - Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Princess

Pretty inspiring, isn't it? As a new family of bookworms, let's kick off this journey and start reading some of those undiscovered pages. You'll never know what you're missing until you live between the lines. :)