Books Books Books

One of my absolute passions is reading. I love to read and do so voraciously. I cannot imagine a day without reading. I remember as a child desperately wanting to learn to read. I would take books and circle the words I could read - and, the - the simple ones. I also very clearly remember the day I learned to read at school and how much I loved sitting at the table reading books aloud that year. I never lost that passion. Its strange because I don't come from a family of readers, which is probably why they never picked up on my desire to learn to read. I was always the odd one out with my nose in a book all the time. As I got older I would carry a book at all times and read during class under my desk. This confused my teachers a bit because I was always paying attention and could answer any question so they couldn't fault me there and they couldn't really fault me because I was actually reading - again something most kids didn't do voluntarily. I could live without knitting but not without books. 

One of the drawbacks is I read very quickly. In fact, just out of curiousity I took a few of the online tests to see if a speed reading course would be helpful and they all came back "no" in that I already have that skill mastered. I cruise through books at a normal rate of 2-3 per week provided I am not too tired. I love all books but have to admit since having my son I no longer am able to enjoy anything too gruesome or scary. I used to be a big Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Patricia Cornwall fan but really have to be in a mood in order to read these authors anymore. Something weird happened when I became a mom and I can't handle the scary stuff. Maybe because I have my own scary stuff to deal with in real life now. For the most part I read lighter fiction now, especially chick lit. Nothing to heavy or depressing for now. Again - something about momhood makes me shun anything to sad. I also love childrens books. I love to read to my son but I also love to read children's and preteen books for my own pleasure. My favorites are Narnia, Madeline L'engle, Meg Cabot and, obviously, J.K. Rowling. And I love Fairy Tales. I have several books of fairy tales from different cultures. Its amazing how similar they are and how you can always find the same stories in every culture. I am also amazed at how prevalent Cinderella is as a plot line in books and movies. Its my favorite fairy tale, although I must admit I like the Pretty Woman ending best where she walks away from the Prince until it is on her terms. Gosh, am I rambling here or what! I told you - books are my passion!!!!

So I decided I wanted to start tracking what I read. I am adding a bookshelf to my blog and I will start putting up the books I am reading. I am interested in seeing just how many I actually read in a year. It should be interesting. I just finished re-reading the Harry Potter series.  I started the books right after the HSKS5 swap started and finished a week ago. That series is brilliant and no matter how many times I read it I am always finding something new. But I am starting post HP this year. So up on my shelf is Twilight which has been referred to me now by several people. I finally broke down and bought it and Darn It - I loved it!!!! It sucked me in (oh - love that play on words!) and I finished it in a few days. Now I have to go get the next three books. In the meantime, until that happens I have some fluffy romance novels my husband found free for me. Those are always my fallback books. I know, romance novels are sometimes the literary equivalent of Wonder bread, so tasty but completely empty of any nutritional value. But I enjoy them because they are generally entertaining. I do tend to be picky about my romance novel authors knowing that my favorites tend to try to craft an interesting story beyond the standard romance novel plotline. But I also will take any free book and give it a shot. So on my bookshelf you will see variety! And trust me - when I find something I love and want to share I will make note of it!