When growing up in Nova Scotia, I was blessed to enjoy going to the library on weekends to pick up new book, read a little and enjoy their planned activities.  My dad loved to read Tom Clancy novels and my mom was hooked on Danielle Steele.  I, on the other hands, got lost in sci-fi fantasy, pick-your-own-adventure books as well as an avid ready of Tintin and Astérick et Obélisk to maintain my French skills and follow their adventures.
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As a child, I moved around every four years due to my father’s profession and the library was always an exciting place to go regardless of the city I lived it.  It was consistent no matter how it looked or what languages the books were in.  Home has always been Nova Scotia and my favourite library was conveniently located in Downtown Dartmouth just next to the Dartmouth Ferry crossing, so you had plenty of shops, restaurants, stores as well as the luxury of crossing the Halifax Harbour to venture over and enjoy that side of it.  As an adventurist kid, I felt compelled to learn as much as my environment as possible and since I was spending my adventures in jungles, desserts, outer worlds, dark forests as well as communicating with animals, elves, soldiers, wizards, dinosaurs, aliens, warriors, etc., I would conduct as much research as possible on those topics, especially if they had vivid pictures, to gain as much insight on them as possible.
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I also loved the show “Reading Rainbow” staring Levar Burton, which made reading “cool” for kids like me.  It also opened my world to books from different genres and authors on top of having my library featuring them, whenever possible, in a special “as seen on Reading Rainbow” area.  Most times, I maintain focus on my research of dragons, goblins, reptiles, insects as well as keeping up with my favourite cartoon’s adventures.
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I rediscovered my love for reading and losing myself in adventures and information since the start of the pandemic lockdown of 2020.  I have always enjoyed plenty of non-fiction novels to progress myself to a better me, but have been very particular with fiction novels as I prefer adventure and science-fiction over gory, horror novels or the books that my parents read. 
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I immediately started by re-reading Brain Droppings by George Carlin, then fell into a love for Bruce Lee, so I read Striking thoughts, Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living and then enjoyed his daughter book, Be Water My Friend by Shannon Lee.  I’ve always been a fan of his martial art and loved that I’ve discovered another side of him.  What a truly great man and inspiring family. 
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To switch it up, I, once again, opened up the amazing poetry book US(a.) by Saul Williams along with The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi.  I always felt that poets had the genuine pulse of the people and Saul Williams has mastered the art in expression of the struggle of many.  As a fan of Japanese Lore, Miyamoto Musashi is an amazing samurai known for his two-sword yielding style and his insight in life and combat amongst many other achievements.  Japan celebrates him proudly.
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To maintain my French, I picked up and read Kukum by Michel Jean, a fantastic Canadian Author who I highly recommend.  I also purchased and look forward to reading his other novel, Atuk.  Both stories centered around his personal experience as a member of an indigenous community in Northern Québec.  I’m blessed to have extended family in the Province of Québec as I do find it difficult to get good French books.
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I also started reading the Dune series again.  I have read this story since I was a child and understandably, I started grasping the more in-depth concepts more-and-more as I grew older as well as the David Lynch’s movie version provided great insight and provided answers to those unanswered.  So far, I’ve completed Dune and will continue with Dune Messiah a little later on in the year and I’m planning to complete the trilogy, which includes Children of Dune before the end of the calendar year.
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I’m also planning on re-reading some of my favourite non-fiction books by writer, Malcolm Gladwell.  This includes his books entitled David & Goliath, which I completed, and What the Dog Saw, which is next on my list.  I have all of his books, but those of his most recent that I’ve decided to remind of concepts, ideas and behaviours.  I also pre-order his newest novel which is set to be release at the end of May and I’m very excited to read it.
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Reading is no different than any other hobby, past time or love that we enjoy.  I prefer to maintain a nice balance of past times to get the maximum variety that I can.  I find it optimal to read after a workout.  By giving your body are break and putting your mind to work is great balance and offers a unique way to recover.
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My goals is to gain insight in other people’s perspective and concepts.  I have a huge list of books that I’m planning on tackling including, but not limited to:  two of my favourites; Hunter S Thompson and James Baldwin.  I also plan on continuing my research on topics relating to race, diversity, inclusion, social justice, nutrition, natural health, spirituality, etc.
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If I’m able to, I’m hoping to start reading comic books/graphic novels like I did when I was a teen as well as reading more fantasy lore to electrify my imagination when developing stories.  I was big into Doctor Strange and later on, Spawn, which I still have many of those old comics in my storage area, but don’t wish to tamper with to maintain it’s potential long-term appraised value.  Right now, I started the book Defining Moments in History: Reading between the lies by Dick Gregory, which I am absolutely loving it.
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So, what are you reading that’s keeping your imagination, mental health and inspiration going?  I’d love to hear from you, so please comment below.

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