Sometimes, something happens in your life that changes everything. For some, it's getting married to their best friend, having their children, taking that trip they've always dreamed of. I waited almost 35 years for my "Ah ha moment".
I really hated to read until last May, like with a passion. My original post regarding this topic was back in April of 2010 and oh how things have changed since then. Before May of 2012 I had read a dozen or so books in my adult life. I remember reading the first Harry Potter book thinking "this is so painful" and it took so long to read it - close to a month. My first "I LOVE THIS BOOK" was A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I read it for the first time, and several more times since, at the beginning of last year after a few friends of mine had recommended it to me. It's a beast of a book, like 600 pages, and when I got it from the library I never thought I'd get through it. But I had read all the Twilight books and Harry Potter books by then so I knew, eventually, I would get it done. To my surprise, it only take a few days and those were the most magical days! I loved every single page of that book. Something awoke in me when I finished it. My "ah ha" moment was just around the corner...waiting patiently in all it's shades of grey!
For Mother's Day last year, after seeing me trying out this reading thing a little more and getting a few books on his Kindle, Rick thought it might be a great idea to get me my own Kindle and the new "Must Read" book out at the time. Boy, he's never gotten me a better gift..
THANK YOU SWEET BABY J for the creation of the Kindle and even more thanks to EL James for giving us Christen Grey!!!! Yeap, you guessed it, the Shades of Grey series gave me my "ah ha" moment. I found my love for the written word and I'll never look back. I devoured that series - twice in one week. No you didn't see that wrong - twice in one week. Since then I've read more than 150 books, 46 since January of this year. Something else happened with the SOG series. I realized at it's completion, that I'm a big fan of the series. I love series - really long, complicated and involved series. I love the continuation of the story, the fact that it's not over just yet, that the characters still have a journey to make and story to tell. And when it's done, it's like eating the biggest bowl of your favorite ice cream and lots of it! Heaven.
In addition to getting my Kindle, I also joined a Facebook group started by a friend of mine from high school, Karla. Boudreaux's Bookworms is a book club/group, a little happy place, for us gals to go to and talk about the books we are reading, have read or want to read. It's an open forum and there are no rules. We all have different likes and dislikes, but the one thing we have in common is that we all enjoy reading. I've found some of the most interesting reads from these ladies. They are my "go to"... well, them and Goodreads, for which I couldn't function without. Some great things have come from this group too. One of the members is also an author and a contributing writer on another blog called the "Ruby Slippered Sisterhood" (RSS). Because of one of the threads that started on Bookworms - "Why do you love to read?", Liz wanted to feature us on this blog. That was an exciting time for us all. We got to "talk" with other writers and give feedback/answer questions. I've read many of Liz's books as well as a several of the other RSS and loved them all.
Why do I love to read now? That's simple...here's how I answered it on Bookworms:
"... reading allows me to travel to foreign worlds, smell exotic fragrances, taste exquisite foods, wear stunning clothes, and explore the unimaginable. We journey with some of the most amazing people and experience things that words can only attempt to describe. We get swept away with love and passion, danger and fear. I love meeting these new people and embrace the excitement and imagination they spark in me. I can’t wait to read the next story and go on the next journey… I love hearing the music that plays in my head when I read. And… I love that I can carry my favorites around with me – our beloved Matthew, Jericho, Gideon, Dufrene brothers, Reyes, Wallbanger, and on and on. But honestly, I read for a selfish reason – it’s MY time. It’s my break from my reality, my quiet time, my time to escape. And I love sharing my new finds with others that love to read. Thank you Christian Grey for turning me into a reader and for wanting more! Since May of last year, I’ve logged hundreds of hours on over 120 books".
So my question for you is, why do you love to read???
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