Book Worm...

I LOVE to read. Love it. It's literally one of my very very favorite things to do. When I was little, I really loved the Critter book series. I could identify with the well-meaning yet oft-destructive escapades of the little Critter. He was also the oldest of the Critters and as such suffered arduous burdens of simultaneous blame and expectation. I felt vindicated and validated reading how Critter was able to overcome his trials...inspiring, truly.

After Critter and I parted ways, I moved on to Laura Ingles. That girl rocked. She was brave and curious, also well-meaning and yet she often found herself entangled in some kind of mess too! She was pretty good at getting out of her messes though. And learning some great lesson in the process. I also loved imagining the rugged landscape and terrain that the Wilder's had to conquer. Somehow it was infinitely more interesting that our backyard and sandbox.

I will also admit that I went through the Babysitter's Club phase. I hate to confess that I was part of a fad, but, alas, it's true. Really though, who can blame a girl? The clubbers were motivated, independent, spunky, responsible and fun. I mean, a girl could do worse. I did break the mold though by reading the books in a random pattern. Meaning, I didn't just follow the Claudia series or the Stacey series or the Dawn series. I mixed it up. I was a trendsetter. :) I lived for the Super Series editions. They involved some type of adventure outside of Stonybrook. My favorite was when the clubbers went on a school trip to a skiing lodge. There was a talent show, a ghost, cute French boy skiiers, etc. At this point, rather that judging me for my less than intellectually stimulating choices, you should realize that any reading was helpful at this stage in my development...

A seminal moment in my reading history was in eighth grade. We were required to read a book called Cold Sassy Tree. It's set in Cold Sassy, Georgia at the turn of the 20th century. Will Tweedy, a twelve year old boy, is the main character. And, as you may have guessed, Will often finds himself in a self-induced pickle. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a kindred spirit. Anyway, I've read this book about 14 times. It's my security blanket. If I'm in a funk, I read Cold Sassy and it sets me straight.

All of these books are responsible for my present reading quirks. I ONLY read books (for pleasure) of the historical fiction genre. And by historical, I mean if it has so much as a telephone in it (switchboards count), I'm not picking it up. No Chic Lit for me. I read books to escape, not to remind myself of how ridiculously materialistic and fake my life is. Sigh. Anyway, I received several cool books for Christmas that I haven't had a chance to read yet. Now that my 2 week break from school has started, I promptly started reading the most interesting looking one Friday. It was 696 pages long. I finished last night at about 2am. The book was set in London in the 1850s. There was murder, betrayal, mystery, vendetta, etc. The last hundred pages were really intense. A couple of murders. Each involving a long butcher knife.

So...of course, Tie and I have to be at church early this morning to drive the bus to pick up some kiddos. I have to get up at 5:45 to get a shower. My hair badly needs washing. Not because it's dirty but because there are massive knots in it (I have curly hair; Mom refers to the knots as "rats' nests") I set 2 alarms. I wake up at 6:34. WHAT! We have to leave in 26 minutes. No time to shower. Hair is ridiculous. But...I know why I overslept. I was dreaming about playing a live version of the Clue game. In my dream, everyone that was playing had to actually act out a scenario they had randomly drawn: Miss Scarlett in the Kitchen with the Revolver. Yes, act it out, like shoot the other people playing the game. And, you played the game in the dark. So, at this point in the dream, I was protesting heavily. I was Colonel Mustard, in the Dining Room with the knife (but, it was a butcher knife like the one I had just been reading about). I really didn't think i could stab someone in the dark. I was overruled, the lights were turned out and the game began. I immediately ran into a chair around the dining room table and stabbed myself. And then I woke up. Great dream. Brought on of course by my reading obsession. Well worth it though!