Every book has it's own personality. Characters show off all different quirks, scenery whispers anything from forest breezes to salty ocean waves. The best stories aren't the ones that stunned you with their prose. They are the ones that left you feeling out of breath and a little like you stepped into another world.

Over the years, I've found that with every change of season I start craving certain books. Maybe because the first time I read that particular one, the lilacs were blooming. Or my sister bought me another and I read it on a rainy day...

Today, I've gathered up a little collection of my favorite reads for a summery afternoon, old-fashioned, new, and everything in between. 

Being a writer is hard.
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I admit it.

I am an author. I've tried to be other things and it didn't go well. Bursts of imagination set me on fire, characters leap out at me from the pages and tug me along on their adventures. Stories run in my veins, but that doesn't mean they come easy. Sometimes, to get those stories out, I have to sweat. I have to cry. I have to bleed. 

Anytime you pour that much heart and passion into anything, you risk something. Hope is a driving force, a spark that makes your heart beat faster and thrusts you onto journeys you never thought possible. When it shatters, it takes some time to piece together again. Hope is terrifying.