Random Act of Kindness

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I love to read. I read every night in bed until I can't keep my eyes open and then I switch off the light and go straight to sleep.

My husband works shift work and is often in bed before me. I still need to read before sleep so I huddle under the covers with a torch - just like when I was a kid. It helps to still my brain which will keep me up all night if I don't distract it with a book.

I cannot imagine a life without books. I read everything from non-fiction (fitness, health, biography, philosophy books), good quality fiction and all out trashy novels. Crime and psychological dramas are my favourite.

I am always buying books, mostly from second hand bookshops or out of the dump bin at the major stores. I devour the book and then put it on the shelf. When the shelves get full I put a whole lot of books (ones I don't want/need to read again) in a bag and leave them in the lane outside our back gate. They are always gone within minutes. I have never actually seen anyone take them, it must be the literary elves.

So my idea is to expand this act of kindness to a national or even international level. If you are a reader you could join me in this mission to spread the written word to everyone.

Next time you go out, take a finished book with you. Write this in the front of the book:

"This book is a gift to share the joy of reading. Please take this book with you and when you have finished with it return it to a place where another may find it".

Then leave the book somewhere - on the bus, in a coffee shop, at the airport, in the waiting room, or on a bench in the park.

I wonder how long it would take before we had a global library of shared books. Although they might not be the best or most treasured books in the world, they would still be a random act of kindness. Give the joy of reading to someone else. You never know - we could start a revolution!