The Magic of Books on Nightstands

By Genevieve Wheeler

Have you ever heard anyone say "a face without freckles is like a night without stars?" Well, I don't have any freckles... but I think the same sentiment applies to a nightstand without books: no bedroom is really complete without them.

At any given moment, I have no less than four books sitting on my nightstand (or tucked under the pillow to my left): usually one work of nonfiction, one novel, one collection of poems, and a journal filled with my own scribbled, disjointed thoughts. Personally, I prefer to sleep with stories floating around both next to and inside of my head.

At this exact moment, I have Jenny Lawson’s Furiously Happy (perhaps the most hilarious and relatable work I’ve ever read), The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and a little purple journal with JRR Tolkien’s over-used but wonderful words, "Not All Who Wander Are Lost," printed across its cover in gold script.

Each book is a means of escape. Of inspiration. Of expression. They are reminders that beauty and happy endings exist, even after the roughest, most anxiety-inducing days (or a particularly vivid nightmare). They are – to quote the late, great and fictional Albus Dumbledore – an inexhaustible source of magic. And every girl needs a bit of magic in her life and by her bedside... right?

Genevieve is a woman who loves to read, write, and is still waiting on her acceptance letter from Hogwarts.