About Worlds...Mine-And Others

Hello everyone!

As tomorrow, Friday 20th, my blog will be one whole month old, I thought it was about time that I introduce myself probably. And my view on books. And the purpose of this blog. And some other random things. So... here you go:

Every Book I read contains a story. I have to say that because there exist books that - in my opinion - don't really contain stories. My Math textbook, for example. Or even some autobiographies. The content of a book that I consider to be a story will be featured on this blog. That's how you will know what I consider a story.

The reason I read books are not the stories, though. It's the worlds. And in the following, I want to explain to you what I mean by that. Let's start with a little example: There are stories that I start reading when I get into the school bus every morning. I stop when everyone starts packing their stuff and heading out the bus doors. That's when I notice that 45 minutes passed since I opened the book. A story turns into a world for me as soon as I forget where I am, whose with me, who I am. A story becomes a world to me if it draws me in, lets me laugh and cry and shout and scream with the characters. Whenever a story feels so familiar that it could be my own, that I can forget my own story and my own world, that story becomes a world to me.

This is why I can't judge a book with the help of stars or smileys or anything out there. I judge a book with the help of Smarties. I don't think amazing plot, great character development, super fluent language or never ending fast-paced-ness are responsible for a story to turn into a world. Of course, those details are important for any book, but I mention them in my reviews, not in my ratings. And because my ratings have nothing to do with the elements that are supposed to make a book good or bad, but simply with how much I loved the world, how easy it was to escape my own world I needed my own rating system.

The Smarties for those who don't know are part of this world, my own world. I'm German and I at least believe that Smarties are a German candy, but I have no idea if anyone from another country has ever heard of them. Basically, they are little colored chocolate balls that German kids love. I decided to use Smarties, because of my blog name (duh!) which brings me even closer to my own world.

I live in a small town in Germany where everyone knows each other. There are only two ways in this town (as there are probably in many towns like this): fit in or stay out. 

After years of trying to fit in I decided to stay out.

This might sound rather sad but it actually is the opposite. I do have a small group of friends and I love my family so much! My giving up on trying to fit in led me to actually knowing what I want in my life. Which led me to the United States of America. Which explains why I'm writing this blog in English. I was so obsessed with the USA and learning the English language for the past few years that I think I'm able now to make people understand what I want to say on this blog. During that English - learning process I once stumbled upon the word "book smart" - and I felt like I found myself, or a characterisation of myself.

I just am the shy, geeky girl that keeps her nose in a book whenever it's possible. I don't even have a major problem with the stuff that's in the textbooks (I wouldn't read them for pleasure, though) which is how I got the idea of my blog name. I'm book smart,

I am the Booksmartie