Travel By Book

I recently pulled down from the bookshelf and opened up my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the few novels I have kept after reading.  Though noted to be a twelfth impression, this copy I bought used some time back was printed near the original July 1960 publication date because the handwritten note on the inside cover is dated 1961.  Considering that, the thought occurred to me that reading To Kill a Mockingbird some fifty-eight years ago was likely a different experience than reading it today.  But then when I read it again this year it will be a different experience than my first reading it about fifty years ago.  I guess that is one of the “magic” qualities of books, at least good books.  Whatever the year, wherever the reader is, the book picks the reader up where he or she is and drops him/her off in another place.