Where The Wild Things Are

So I’ve decided to really try to blog. I frequently think “oh I’ll blog about that” only to actually begin writing and decide my thoughts were far too boring. I’m quick on the delete key, that’s for certain! Well, I like reading blogs, even if they are the mundane day to day adventures we all have. So now I’m subjecting the world to my own mundane, day to day adventures!

Right now I’m going to make sure I start documenting the books that I read this year. I’m very thankful that I didn’t do this last year, because my list would be pathetic. It would have been filled with Junie B. Jones, Dr. Seuss, and Saddle Club books, and I’m just not sure I could take that kind of embarrassment. I suppose you could say my New Year’s Resolution is to read more, specifically adult books. You could say that if I actually made New Year’s Resolutions

I just (as in not 5 minutes ago) finished reading “Son of a Witch” by Gregory Maguire. This is the sequel to “Wicked” which I loved. “Son…” did not disappoint. While I didn’t find it quite as spellbinding (okay…I know) as “Wicked” I really did enjoy it. For me, the draw of “Wicked” was that it was a play on a familiar story. I liked finding those parallels between the book and “The Wizard of Oz” and seeing how Maguire tied the two together. “Son” is set after Dorothy and the Wizard leave Oz so it’s a completely new story featuring some familiar characters. It does have ties, obviously, back to “Wicked” and “Wizard” but not the same way. I do enjoy Maguire’s writing style and will definitely seek out his other books. I have to say the last line made me grin like a fool. That tied the whole book up in one sentence and I LOVED that!

I’m also reading the first of the Harry Potter books to Lauren. When the books first came out, I worked at Zany Brainy in Mesa. We hosted all sorts of HP parties and premiers when new books came out and I really wanted to be a part of the hype. Unfortunately, I tried repeatedly to read that book and just couldn’t do it. I’d get half a chapter in and decide I was going to die of boredom if I kept going. Now, reading it to Lauren, I am amazed at how interested I am in the book! I have a hard time not sneaking into her room while she is at school and just finishing it But I don’t because I know she’d find out. I’m not sure if we’ll read the second book next or go back to reading the Little House series…quite the shift, I know!

We finished Little House in the Big Woods just after the new year. I think Lauren liked it, but sometimes it’s hard to tell with her. I really enjoyed it, but I expected that. From many trips to Goodwill I have collected all but 2 of the series. Unfortunately, the second book is one that I don’t have, thus the switch to Harry Potter. We have Little House on the Prairie requested at the library, but it hasn’t arrived yet. Soon I hope! We’re probably only a few days away from finishing the HP book and I do want to go back to the LHP books. We’ll see.

I started reading “The Prairie Girls’ Guide to Life” on Monday, much to my husband’s amusement. I guess he doesn’t see me as much of a prairie girl, but I actually do know most of the things in that book so far. I found that fact both exciting and annoying I do think there are a lot of things I will take away from the book, but I expected to be amazed at every page. I suppose my grandma has taught me well. Or maybe I am a prairie girl at heart and just didn’t realize it. The crafty and cooking parts come easy to me…I’m pretty sure panning for gold will be something that I will learn a lot about after finishing this book!

The next book on the horizon for me is “Iron Thunder” by Avi. It is a civil war novel about the battle between The Monitor and The Merrimac. I discovered Avi in one of my Children’s Lit classes at Purdue and really enjoy his style. I never thought I would like historical fiction, but I really seem to do so. I know this book is going to be a quick and easy read and I’m somewhat looking forward to that after finishing “Wicked.”

I find reading to be so addictive. I’m not sure why I allowed myself to go so long without doing much of it! I guess I have been reading, just not for pleasure. I find myself reading texts on childrearing, knitting, sewing, homemaking, etc. And while those are very useful and worthwhile books, they just don’t ignite the passion for literature like a good novel!!