Good books.

Sometimes I hate to start reading a good book. Because I get the feeling of not wanting to put it down, but at the same time never wanting it to end. For instance, I've recently just finished reading Bad Mother's United, the sequel to Bad Mother's Handbook, written by the brilliant Kate Long. (Side note: if you've never read any of her work then you are seriously missing out. The way Kate writes, its universal. You don't have to be from Lancashire, England to connect with the story or the characters.) I got so involved in the lives of each character. I would create my own little movie in my head and would almost have a visceral reaction to everything they went through. I started reading BMU on Tuesday evening, read until around 2:00 AM! Then I read anytime I had a moment (sitting in carpool waiting to pick my nephew up from school for instance) and finished it up Thursday night. When I get into a story like that, it almost becomes my obsession. And I have a way of tuning everything else around me out when I'm reading. You almost have to slap me in the face to get my attention.


After finishing a book that I have completely immersed myself in, it is like I'm having to pull myself out of a dense fog. I sit there and think "What do I do with my life now?" I can't just snap back to reality. It has to be a slow process. In the meantime, the people around me go on as if I haven't just gone through an emotional trauma. For example, I hadn't finished reading for more than five minutes when Bryant walked in and began trying to carry on a conversation with me. I think I just stared at him blinking for a few seconds thinking to myself, "Don't you realize what I've just gone through?! I can't carry on like nothing happened!" But that's how it is for me, and for other avid readers that I know. The most shattered I think I have ever been is after finishing book 7 of Harry Potter. I had invested a decade of my life in these books. A decade! And when it finally ended I realized I had been holding my breath the entire time. I didn't move from my reading spot for nearly an hour! LOL. And I think it took me about a week to fully come back down to earth. But that's what books are supposed to do to you. If they don't, in my opinion, it means that they weren't written very well.  


I was having a discussion with Heather, my brother's girlfriend, the other night on the topic of life altering books. Books that literally affect you forever and that you will probably revisit several times over and want in nicely bound volumes. Those for me would be The Lord of the Rings series, the Harry Potter series, Say You're One of Them and A Thousand Splendid Suns. According to Heather, I need to read the Ender's Game Series and the Dune series. I will have to add them to my never ending list of books I want to read. *sigh*


So, I am now about to start the Divergent series. I have a feeling I will have them read within a few days. I actually just went to see the movie last night and It. Was. Epic. I loved it! But you know what they always say, the book is always better than the movie! Happy Reading Everyone!!!!