Books Galore!

Greetings Friends!  In honor of all things good books and my friend +Kristen Jackson and her last post over at Corner of Central Florida, I have decided to dedicate a blog specifically to reading.   Thank you +Kristen Jackson for the inspiration and know that the things I read are absolutely nothing like the things you read.

I feel as though an introduction to my reading style is in order.  I was read to copiously as a child.  Over and over again I was told stories and read books.  My parents were hoping to instill a love a reading in me...it didn't work until much later in life.  I remember reading Beverly Cleary books during my childhood years but that's about it.  Fast forward a few years to college.  I was a theatre major and reading plays, often horrible and frequently long and boring though some were gems indeed.  I read so much that I just got tired of it.  The book containing all the plays was so heavy and the paper so thin that when I thought I was making a dent I was deceived.  That made me bitter.  Very bitter.

My next reading sojourn took place while I was working for a ministry.   I read all the approved Jesus books and found that I always had a pencil in hand and couldn't enjoy what I was reading for all the note taking.  I put those down, except for Brennan Manning's stuff.  He's great.  I recommend him.   And decided that I was going to pick up where my parents left off and read the childhood books that should have already been in my repertoire.  I started with The Cronicles of Narnia.  Amazing!  A must read folks.  What was so incredible to me was all the double meaning contained within.  On one level it is a fantasy novel for children but on a completely different plane it is a series full of light for adults.  I started with book one and my reading obsession began.  To this day, I cannot go to sleep unless I have read at least one page of a book.  Happened last night.  I was so tired but I read one page of my current goody and then escaped to sleepy town.

So there you have it in brief.  My love affair with books began when I was 22 years old.  I started with children's fiction and never left.  I've often wondered what makes middle grade and young adult (not the stupid lovey "i need a boyfriend" junk) so appealing to me.  After several years I realized it is because I didn't have much of a childhood.  Yes, I was a kid.  Yes, I made mudpies and swam in lakes.   But, I spent most of my kid years afraid of everything.  I missed the whole unadulterated unashamed thing.  I was scared and felt immense guilt and convinced myself I was dying.  I think the reason I am drawn to books for the young folk is because they give me some of that time back.

Here's what I'm reading now (for the second time):  Magyk by Angie Sage.  More to come on this delightful series of magyk and mystery.