What are you reading?

It’s long overdue, especially since this summer I’ve slipped back into my old ways. Those are the ways of speed reading, frantic page turning and staring at typed out words for so long that my eyes worsen and I get increasingly more sensitive to light.

I love it.

This summer, I’ve poured over popular reads (The Shades of Grey series) and lost myself in a couple of the lost books on my shelf (meaning, they were victim to one of my Barnes and Noble sprees). I’d love nothing more than to share my bookworm experiences with you all, in hopes that you have either read them as well and we can talk about them like crazy, or maybe it will spark your interest enough to where you WILL read them and THEN we can talk about them like crazy. Kind of like a sporadic book club… with just two members… or something.

Okay, so might as well get it out of the way – I succumbed to pop culture’s rave over Fifty Shades of Grey by the otherwise completely unknown E.L. James. All of a sudden, a book that’s been published for years is getting a ridiculous amount of showtime and even gossip about a movie series. Magic words for me. So, I went to the bookstore, snagged all three in the series and read them over the course of about 3 weeks. Hold your applause til the end.

Now let me say this… I have never (swear!) read erotic romance novels. I actually rarely read conservative romance novels, a few by Nicholas Sparks being the only exceptions. So I dove into these with no expectations but a bit of weariness for the impending emotions.

Because my mom and my Aunt Nancy read this blog, I refuse to write about the sexy details that gripped me into late nights of reading and a certainly increased sex drive (and curiosity), but I will say that it definitely delivers. Maybe because it was so MUCH outside of my own realm of normality, or maybe it really was just good… but something was stirring, for sure. The story is absolutely far-fetched, but I was slow to judge (again, I was a romance novel virgin). The characters were pretty lovable though and the storyline, although questionable, enticing. To the point, I wasted no time picking up the sequel and the third book, finishing them so closely together that now I couldn’t tell you where one ended and the other began. It read quickly through some definite giggles, undeniable tears and overall suspenseful rising action. End of the day? I can’t deny that the end disappointed me, but I can’t say that it ruined the experience. I will certainly see the movie and continue to stalk it’s IMDB page for cast updates.

Switching gears 180 degrees, I just finished The Red Tent. I’m going to sum this up quickly: Dinah, from Jacob’s Genesis family recounts her life from the menstrual cycle tent with her large family to life as a mid-wife to an old woman who finally finds peace and love. It’s gritty and sad, but inspiring with serious emotional impact. It lifts the spirits without making you read anything too largely spiritual. It is based in Genesis, so technically, it is spiritual… and there’s certainly talk about the ancient gods and such… but overall it’s a pretty phenomenal story about love, family, traditions and change that helps (even if only a little) us align ourselves with who we come from, especially us women.

I was about to write, “switching gears” again when I realized maybe it’s a subconscious decision, maybe it’s not, but everything I read seems to completely differentiate it self from whatever I read previously. It’s a great way to read. I recommend it.

Okay, so Abraham Lincoln–who knew he was a Vampire Hunter? I bought this book YEARS ago, probably when it was first published. Vampires and History are two things that fascinate me. So it was a no-brainer. I finally read it when I saw a trailer for the movie (what!?) and I have to say, nothing about it disappointed me. It was suspenseful, entertaining and packed with enough history and subtlety that with every chapter I had to really think hard about whether it was a work of fiction or not. For the first half of the book, Mike would lean over and say, “so, is this true?” And although for sure it’s not… I found myself saying, “well, sort of…” Obviously part of the enjoyment of any work of fiction is the inability to completely separate it from reality, so I’ll say it’s a success in that sense. I’ve heard such awful things about the film, but I can say that the book is straight up awesome. ‘ll probably still go see the flick, and I’ll probably like it more than the average joe who didn’t read the book. That’s just me, closing the gap between fiction and reality again… Hoping to experience a great read in real-time… and maybe make me jump.

So, now I am reading Mrs. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. This is another one that I’ve owned for about a year or so… I read a review on it in Entertainment Weekly and the book jacket (yes, 100& judging this book by it’s cover) has some super creepy photos all over it. I’m building it up to be kind of like The Ring and The Orphanage on paper, freaky and fascinating all at the same time. So far, so good. I stay up way too late making myself nervous about what’s going to come up at the turn of the page. To me, it doesn’t get much better than that in the whole reading for entertainment category. I’m not done yet, so I can’t say whether or not t’s going to turn out cheesy and ridiculous, but for now, if you’re separate for a new book and already read all of the other things I’ve recommended, then pick it up and enjoy. We’ll talk about it like crazy when we’re both done.