A Good Read (if I do say so myeslf)

Truth be told, I love reading. I have since I was a little girl. I was the nerd who loved the Great Books program in elementary school and learn from my mother to ask "Why" questions to dig deeper into the stories. Though it seems over the past few years I've had less and less time to devote to this lost love. Apart from Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events I have found a very select few tomes that I have been able to devour from start to finish. A few years ago that changed with my introduction to The Zion Covenant series by Bodie and Brock Thoene. But as fate would have it , life intervened and I once again became too busy relaxing with a good book. Enter Inkheart -- the first book in a very long time that I literally could not put down until I had read the last sentence. I have put down many books after reading just a chapter or two because they did not have that certain something my heart longs for -- a real story. In the many English courses I've taken they always preach the idea that there are no new stories, only reincarnations of the originals. In a way this is true, but I believe a story can become new in the telling of it.

When I was a little girl my sisters and I would spend hours pouring over the many fairy tales held in the red Grimm's Fairy Tales book that lived under the bed. My big sister would often read us the story of "The Nose," "The Little Mermaid" and countless others at bedtime. My young heart thrilled at the complex tales. As I got a little older I learned to appreciate these stories and many others, my all time favorite being the tragic tale of the Steadfast Tin Soldier (oh my heart -- when he melts into a tin heart at the end). I can still remember getting my first library card and carrying books home from school in my "pocket pants" books were my one true love.

Fast forward 24 years -- I still love fairy tales. I love the imagination, the romance...
Luckily as an adult I've been blessed to discover a new kind of fairy tale (no this is not going to be about that Vampire book, what ever it's called--I obviously haven't read it and may be the last breathing woman under the age of 35 that hasn't). I'm talking about the wonderful books written by a master storyteller by the name of Shannon Hale. I LOVE HER BOOKS! She has 5 titles to her "fame" and I have yet to be able to put one down or get through one with dry eyes. She is a delight.

I picked up her most recent gift Book of a Thousand Days to read on the bus ride today. I meant to start reading at lunch but didn't get the chance because I cute little grandmotherly type thought I looked lonely eating by myself and decided to keep me company. It wasn't until 4:30pm safely seated on the bus that I was able to open the book. I didn't stop reading until 10:05pm when the last sentence was digested and the last tear trickled from my nose (mind you I did this while making and eating dinner, playing with the cat, starting and stopping the sprinklers. I am a woman of many talents).

So if there are any others out there like me that are perhaps still little girls at heart who love fairy tales and the notion of "Happily Ever After" I recommend picking up one of Shannon Hale's books at your local library (or splurging on your own copy, because you just might wish you had). But as they say on Reading Rainbow "You don't have to take my word for it!"