Jadyn Kavanagh’s Reviews > This Book Made Me Think of You > Status Update

When a book sends you to a place you’ve never been, or encourages you to do something new or simply to live with a little more empathy or curiosity because of the characters you have met. I am the person I am because of the books I have read. My reading history is a map that shows the path of my life.

Because as transporting as books can be, there is a big world out there that cannot be fully contained within the pages of a book. The real magic of books is when turning the final page doesn’t mean an ending but a beginning – a beginning that only you can write.

Reading has brought me a sense of escape through some of the hardest times in my life, something that I imagine might resonate with many of you. So, I hope that this column will inspire you to read. But more than that, I hope it will inspire you to live.

‘I’m going to hang it there every year,’ she says softly, touching it and watching it spin. ‘And every year I’ll think of you. I’ll never stop thinking of you, Joe. You’re with me always.’

The right book in the hands of the right person at exactly the right moment can change their life forever. At least, that’s what Alfie has always believed. It’s hard not to when you spend six days a week in a bookshop and have witnessed more times than you can count the magic of someone entering your shop as one person and leaving with the possibility of becoming another held in paper between their hands.