I Met the Love of My Life on Goodreads — Happy Book Lovers Day!

This coming November, it’ll be ten years since Jessica and I met for the first time in person. Ten years! Before that first in-person love fest, we met on Goodreads, the website where book nerds go to feel comfy.

In 2010, when we got married, I wrote up this little story about how we met on Goodreads. It’s silly, but warms my heart. Here’s what I wrote back then (please pardon any grammatical errors, you monsters):

Goodreadsville

Like many great stories, ours is one filled with wonder, thrilling adventure, two-headed dragons, and sinister witches seeking to concoct a potion that will rid the world of the love we had found.

Quite literally, in fact. Jessica and I found this love deep within the treacherous forest that sidles the faraway town known as Goodreadsville — a quaint, albeit bizarre, village whose entire population consists of bookworms, literary buffs, fiction fanatics, and non-fiction connoisseurs. Consequently, its architectural style was like nothing I’d ever seen. The buildings, each and every one of them, were shaped like books. Books lying flat, books propped open, books with dog ears and worn bindings and book markers sticking out of the pages. It took a bit of time getting used to but after a while I had grown accustomed to the book-shaped residences, with the book stack chimneys, book pile picket fences, and, in one such garden, the book carved lawn gnome.

It is within the town of Goodreadsville where we first met. And, akin to many initial encounters within the town limits, the talk was all books. Actually, it went something like this:

I like your books. Oh, thank you. I like your books. Thanks. Let’s make out.

Or something similar.

From there, we moved onto a wide range of talking points, from family life to our unabashed love for zombie movies. And it was in that moment I knew — and I can speak for Jessica and say that she knew as well — that this was something special, something unique, and something certainly new.

Soon, it became apparent, that we would have to make the journey out into the treacherous Emerald Forest. This was, we were told, the only way to find the love we were yearning for. Gathering our belongings and saying our goodbyes, we left our homes with hope in our hearts and a bit of nervousness in our stomachs, and began our journey.

Five days in, we encountered the two-headed dragon. Viciously, the beast attacked, spewing hateful fire and slashing at us with open claws. But we kept going. Our defenses held, and we walked on. Ten days later, we came upon the witches, and it was the same story. Their black magic simply bubbled and oozed, yet we felt no change. So we kept going. And it went like this for days. While the evil forces of the Emerald Forest sought to penetrate our defenses, the strength of our pairing increased. Our defenses, we estimated, were unconquerable. We were, together, like one. A few days later, we found it.

Carved within the living, beating presence of our hearts, we found it. Our love. A strengthened, enhanced conglomeration of the feelings and thoughts of that first interaction.

In other words, we met on Goodreads and fell madly in love.

Want more lovey dovey gooeyness? Check out our wedding video and next-day beach party video.

And, if you’d like to share in our joy of books, be sure to check out Joy Sandwich, a podcast we host where we talk crap tons about books. :D

Originally published at nonwels.com.