A truth universally acknowledged...

It's a grey October day out there, and a cold one at that. I can see the wind whipping crisp leaves off trees by my window, and hear it whistling through cracks that I can't find. The sound alone makes me want to shiver...

Of course, you don't care about that. What you want to know is; why should I bother reading this particular blog? Answer: I've no idea. I started this blog for two reasons-

One: to discuss my one true passion in life (well, that's a lie... it's not my only true passion, but let's not quibble): reading, and Two: because sending my most inner and private thoughts out into cyberspace, where they are easily accessible to complete strangers, somehow gives me comfort (this reminds me; I am an incurable sarcastic person. If sarcasm annoys you, I offer you my most sincere apologies. No, really. I mean it).

So, I think I'll open this blog with a nod to it's title. In other words, it's time to play a game of Spot The Quote:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Is it from 1984? Nicholas Nickleby? Wuthering Heights? Obviously not. No, my friends, you are looking at the opening lines of one of the world's favourite books; a book which contains the social satire of George Orwell, the subtle comedy of Dickens and the desperate romance of Emily Brontë - Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Now, I'm not one of those readers who claims that this book is the be all and end all of all literature, nor do I believe that the novel is the best of Jane Austen's works. However, it was the first book of hers that I had a chance to read all those years ago, and it was love at first page (I am not exaggerating. There was drooling involved).

I loved her twisting and unpredictable plots, I loved the window her books offered me into life during 19^th Century England, I loved her dialogues and romance, but most of all, I loved her characters. It was while reading her books that I first discovered the power of having deep, dynamic characters; before this point, it took nothing but a good plot and pretty language to reel me in. Elizabeth Bennet, her sisters, Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy changed the way I read books and looked at the world in general, and for that, Pride and Prejudice will always have a place on my bookshelf (and in my heart, of course).

And that is why I chose it to form my blog's title. Well that, and because from now on I can start blog posts by saying things like: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that basketballs are a bloody menace, and should not be allowed anywhere near my delicate computer moniter, especially when they are in motion." This sort of general statement would be followed by me venting for a paragraph or two, and then offering my opinion on a book I'd read, or had heard about. This is, after all, primarily a blog about reading, for readers, and written by a girl who enjoys nothing more than to leave the world behind by curling up on the bench in her backyard with a good book.

Well, ta for now, dear imaginary readers =]