A Good Book

Copied directly from my assignment. Not the best piece of writing ever submitted for a grade, but cute nonetheless. [Assignment: Write a 1-2 paragraph definition essay.]
~ Charisse

A good book is a faithful companion providing comfort, lifting away worries, and offering support. Like the perfect friend, a good book is comfort in a time of need. It will be there with which to curl up on the couch on a cold night, the words printed offering warmth as good and hot as any lit fireplace. On warmer days and after bad break-ups, it will be there to chill hands and sooth broken hearts like a tub of ice cream. Just as a friend offers comfort, so, too, does a friend lift away worries. A good book’s well read story will massage the mind the way a friend’s hands massage tense shoulders after a long week’s work. Heavy loads are lifted off tired shoulders by a book’s spine-breaking work, so reminiscent of a friend swooping in to help carry groceries from overloaded hands. In addition to offering comfort and taking away worries, a friend’s duty is to offer support. Support can be given in many forms but is always constant. A friend will always be there to lift spirits after a hard break-up, the same way a good book will always be there to make the reader laugh; a smile from a friend is found in every creased page and bent binding. A good book is always available to hold a hand through the many difficult periods of life. It will coax away grief just as well as a human hand.

While a good book is a faithful companion, it is never a sharp tongued partner, a heavy browed tutor, or a jealous ex-lover. A good book will never berate or talk back to the reader. It is silent and listens as tears are shed upon its well worn pages. A good book holds its owner’s mind gently between its covers, never degrading it. This soft voice of a teacher may teach lessons and morals, but it is never a demanding instructor. Stories unfold slowly for pleasure, not for detailed study. A good book is meant to be light and fun, not something that requires a forced focus of brain cells. Joy and relaxation are pivotal aspects of books, similar to the pros of finding a good boyfriend. Relationships with people can sour and ex-lovers are a jealous lot, however a good book will never get upset when another book is picked up and read. A book is always more understanding when time apart is requested; sometimes books, like friends, need time alone and time to rest - when else is the best time to take a nap on the polished floor of a shelf than when the reader finds something else to occupy his or her time? A good book knows when its reader needs more than it can provide and quietly acquiesces.