The Sisterhood of the Travelling Book

Last week I read the princess saves herself in this one, a collection of poetry written by Amanda Lovelace. In her own words, her poetry is about resilience and writing your own ending. The collection was self-published on 23 April 2016 which the book lovers out there may have noticed is World Book Day (for the majority of the world anyway - trust the UK to be different). This, I am sure, is no coincidence as on social media she can be found under the name @ladybookmad.

The collection caught my attention when someone posted one of the poems on social media and I just related to it so much. I asked what book it came from and it went straight on to my Amazon wish list (that is a loooooooong list). I finally ordered the book shortly after choosing my word for 2017 - "Stronger". It seemed fitting and I decided I wanted it to be the first book that I read this year.

I originally planned to read a couple of poems a night before going to bed, but that didn't happen. I could have easily read the entire thing in one night, but at the same time I didn't want it to be over too soon. Luckily the collection is split into four parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen and you. When I reached "the damsel" I forced myself to stop reading and continued the following night.

The subject matter is often difficult to read and could be triggering to some (abuse, cancer and eating disorders to name a few), but the journey of the author is a positive one as she grows stronger from her experiences. I don't usually read poetry as I don't often "get" the meaning behind it, but I was so moved by Amanda's story and the unusual style intrigued me. 

As I came to the end of the collection, I made a decision. I wanted to share it with others so that hopefully they could gain something from it too. I sent out a message on Facebook asking if people would like to be added to a group where one member passes it to the next and so on. 

Thinking it would be nice to get one or two people join in the fun, I was slightly overwhelmed by the response and ended up with over 60 members in the group that I like to call 'The Sisterhood of the Travelling Book'. A few people have some fantastic ideas of how to take the group forward and I am gradually getting myself organised and deciding on the best way to get going with it.

I would now like to take the opportunity to invite you join us. If you would like to become a "sister", then drop me an email using the link in the follow me section and I will add you to the group. We're not scary and we come from all over the world so everyone is welcome. And if you have a book that you think others may find inspiring then feel free to mention it. 

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