Oh my word, it's been a while. I can feel how long with every fiber of my being. I haven't had a book binge like this in YEARS. And, while I intend to go into it in greater detail (or rather, the books in greater detail), I am still reveling in the feel of FINALLY having gone through some books in the way that I was MEANT to. In the way some people reserve for punishment, chocolate, and bad TV, I am a glutton when it comes to books.
See, I've always been a voracious reader. Once upon a time, I would go to the library and take out as many books as they'd let me (anywhere between three and ten) and have them back in the next day or so. Limits to the books to bring home were especially cruel when I was visiting my dad because library visits were few and far between, sometimes once a summer. So, I'd read the whole stack several times before it got returned. And pretty much anything else I could find -- newspapers, medical journals, textbooks from my dad's premed years (mmm... nothing says "breakfast" like looking at abnormal spleens).
But, I haven't visited the library -- or my dad's house -- in years.
Time gets in the way for everyone, and for me, something else slipped in there. A lethargic sort of apathy, which was not helped, I'm afraid by my choice of reading. See, sometime recently, I got it into my head that I would go back and read a pile of books I didn't remember having read and couldn't remember what I wanted to do with them. Because, that's the thing. Generally, if I read a book, I remember what it was about, even vaguely. There will be a plot point or a character or a situation that stood out, even in those books I was "meh" about. If I really liked it or really hated it, I'll have even more vivid recall.
But this pile, I couldn't remember zilch. So, I've been trying to bang through them. I keep them in the bathroom, by the bed just so I have them there to work through. And for the most part, they're all pretty boring romances that are taking me FOREVER to get through. And perhaps that's part of why I don't remember. They didn't have enough connection for me between the characters, or they pushed a connection that didn't feel like it should be there (and repeated for good measure that it existed). Some have been about inappropriate relationships. But, none of this I could remember... except in a few. One of the last ones before the book binge, I'd gotten three pages in and remembered "oh yeah, the mother did it. I don't remember how the rest of it goes, but the mother was the murderer" (I generally like cross genre stuff, especially if I'm reading a romance. If you can't keep a plotline going... you lose my attention, regardless of how hot or frequent sex scenes might be. I want a story, People.). Got to the end and sure enough, Mom was the murder. Still going in the bye-bye-box, though. I just don't have enough love or enough space for it.
On the other hand, though, once through, I decided to switch gears and go with a series Genn has been trying to get me on for YEARS. Holy Moses. I have been through five books (sort of the first books) in less than five days. The series is huge. And while I haven't bought the rest of them yet, I've let the momentum carry me and I'm now half way through another book (as of last night). Completely different genre, completely different author, but I am FLYING through. And trust me, I'll write something up about these books soon. For now, I'm just reveling in it.
It feels like coming home to myself for the first time in a long time.
Hopefully, I can keep this going. And I think I'll be able to if I don't dip back in to the "should I keep these" pile....
Hopefully.
What's kicked you out of a slump?
