Divergent

If you are anything like me,  when you finish a really good series you go through a mourning period. You spend so much time living in a book that when you read that last line you feel like a part of you died. There is a giant void that needs to be filled and you feel like nothing will live up to filling it. I get it. I’m going through it right now. The last time I had it this bad was when I finished The Hunger Games (which admittedly was not that long ago). If possible, this time I feel worse because what I just finished was BETTER than The Hunger Games. For real. BETTER.

I just finished book two of a series my SIL recommended and  you  must stop whatever you are doing and immediately get, order, check out Divergent by Veronica Roth. Read it. I promise you will not be disappointed.

The story is set in a dystopian future much like the Hunger Games (as apparently that is all the rage in teen-lit these days).  It has danger, hard choices, bravery, kindness, war, gain, loss and young love to name a few topics. It’s a potpourri of everything that makes a good book great. I thoroughly enjoyed the Hunger Games. That first book was explosive. However,  with the second and third I felt like the story slowed down and I found I was a little bored at times. With Divergent and the second book Insurgent I was on the edge of my seat and every page I turned was better than the last.

I HATE that I have to wait until 2013 for the final book  to come out. I feel myself teetering on the edge of a post-book depression. I only finished Insurgent in the last 14 hours so I’m still riding that high, but experience tells me this will not last for long . I need to quickly find something to read to banish the post book blues. Its times like these that I usually go to a relied upon favorite. I’m always afraid that the next thing I read will only disappoint me or that the book will be good but will suffer in the shadow of what I just read so these tried and true’s are usually just what I need.

UPDATE: In the midst of banging this post out I got an email from my library saying a book I quested more than a month ago (and completely forgot that I was waiting for) is in and ready for me to pick it up. How’s that for timing? I’ve been looking forward to reading this for some time so instead of wallowing in the blues- I’m excited to run to the library after work tomorrow!

Funny aside. Yesterday I was in Babies R US and at the front of the store they have some book shelves filled with (obviously) baby related topics. This is what was on the top shelf. If that is not genius marketing I don’t know what is. Well played Babies R Us. Well played.

Living Through Reading

My heart swells when I think of books and reading. I love reading like I love a person. Its weird but true. Books have always been there for me. Some may let me down, but they are always reliable and always there. I'm always allowed to escape into them. They open doors and ideas and lifestyles I'd never know of without them. I don't just read a book. I experience a book.

One thing I really love about reading is relating to and “becoming” a character. Either through self identification or just sheer amazing writing where you have no choice but to live in the pages. These books make me feel like I am actually living the story- not just flipping through physical pages. I often find myself picking up on mannerisms or accents or using the language style in my daily life when I’m reading a book like this. Pride and Prejudice one of my all time favorite novels for example causes me to spout random 19^th century English- both in my head and out loud. Gone With the Wind brings a twang to my voice and I have to remind myself that I am not a Southern Belle. Language is enchanting and it can make all the difference.

Another thing I love is being transported. When a book is well written and characters well developed, I get lost. These are the books I can read for hours and feel like 15 minutes have passed. When everything else fades away and your mind creates landscapes and faces and color and being. I look up from these books at times and am truly surprised to find that I am not in fact at Hogwarts with Harry and the gang or observing Leisel Meminger with the Grimm Reaper in World War II Europe.  When I finally drag myself away from these books I long to be back in them with every fiber of my being.

Getting that feeling while reading a book is like true love. It sticks with you for all time. That is one of the reasons I feel sorry for people who do not read. They really don't know what they are missing.

Oh and I finished Fifty Shades of Grey. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. That's pretty much all I have to say about it that I haven't already said. :)