Fluff

WARNING: THERE IS NO INTELLECTUAL MATERIAL IN THIS POST!

Unfortunately, there has not been much going on in my life that has led me to think many thoughts beyond my own superficial life. So stop reading now if you are looking for anything thought provoking.

Now then. Last Thursday I visited my friend Katie, (now known as MRS. Katie)who, being an avid reader, sent me home with an enlongated reading list. I started with the book Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer, which apparently is the first in a best-selling series. I stayed up reading until 5:30am that night and have now completed the 3 books in the series that have been released, as well as spent hours on the internet reading as much as I can about author, series, movie that is coming out, etc.

I LOVE THIS SERIES! I have a confession to make. I adore fantasy novels. I always feel a little ashamed of that, like I should be reading nonfiction, or at least the classics. But I love reading fiction, it's my way to escape the world(hey, I don't drink, watch soap operas or play video games, a girl's gotta have some fluff somewhere!) Last summer I tried to read some more traditional fiction. I picked up one of Judy Blume's novels geared towards adults, which I had heard good things about, but returned it within a couple of days. The story was all about a divorced woman hooking up with the ex of one of her friends, and I found myself stressing out about the emotional trauma she was doing to her kids. I deal with enough drama at work, I can't handle it as entertainment. But if the character who is treating her man badly is also a vampire, or her partner himself is a werewolf, or they are all humans who live in a world that doesn't really exist, somehow I don't get so caught up in trying to fix their mistakes. In fact, these may be the only people I interact with that I don't have to constantly fight my compulsion to fix or help. wow, that's a scary realization.

So anyway, I wanted to write about this because I have been noticing how obsessive I become when I am reading a new series that I really like. It is almost like being in high school and having a crush on someone...I find my thoughts returning to the story constantly, I find little pockets of time to devour a few more pages. When I finish a book I get online and talk to other people about the books for weeks. I can't concentrate on or get excited about anything else until I've finished the story. It is just really interesting to me how I continue to experience that thrill of excitement, it is just the focus of the obsession that has changed. It happens with other things too, occasionally a project at work or something will light a little fire, but I only get crushes on fantasy novels these days. weird.

Ah, so much to look forward to. I have Laurell K Hamilton's latest release to read next, then Stephanie Meyer's last installment comes out in August and Anne Bishop, my all time favorite author, comes out with a new Blood novel in March that I am already agonizing over. sigh. I am nerdy.