Thoughts On Reading

So far this month I've read 28 books, this is NOT including rereads. I was thinking about this the other day when I was on goodreads trying to figure out my books. I know this probably makes me weird, since I don't know very many people who read like I do. Or who can remember the books after they read them like I can do. I'm used to being different. :)

I've been reading since I could. I don't remember a time in my life when books weren't a part of it. Books my mom read to me, my first books that I read on my own, my first romances, everything. I'm so thankful I have a mom who loves books and passed that love on to me.

I think that's why it's so hard for me to narrow down books to favorites. I have so many for different reasons. To Kill a Mockingbird is the first book I remember reading where I loved the movie just as much as the book. Gregory Peck and his smoldering good looks as Atticus Finch. Le sigh.

The Little House books...though I admit to loving the first ones the best. Something about the scrapes Laura got into as a child, remind me too much of myself. :)

The Anne of Green Gables books. Of course, what made me love them even more were the first two movies done on Public Broadcasting. I mean, come on! Awesome acting and so closely following the books as to be eerie.

The Betsy-Tacy books up to Betsy Gets Married. I think the thing I loved about those books is that they start when Betsy turns five and go up until she gets married. The books grow along with the character, which is a very cool concept. I wonder why more books don't do that.

The Nurse Cherry books. Wrtten in the 50's and very dated, but I loved them anyway. :)

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Trixie Belden. Little Women. These are the books I grew up reading.

I got my first real romances when I was 10, but I was reading adult novels at the age of 8. For my age I was extremely mature and was too old for children's books. I wonder at my poor mom trying to keep me supplied with books and not losing her mind.

Seventrees by Janice Young Brooks is a novel I remember reading when I was around the age of 10. 3 generations of women in one book. Horribly depressing in so many ways and yet beautiful. Cinnamon Wharf is the other one. Oh and Crown Sable. Those "epic" 80's novels that span generations and give you a headache due to the angst, but still wonderful books.

Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson is probably one of my all-time favorite books. Based on the true story of Cynthia Ann Parker who was kidnapped by a Comanche tribe and raised by them. It's her romance with the warrior Wanderer and the absolute beauty of her life as the adopted daughter of one of the heads of the tribe. And what it was like when her true family came for her. Talk about a heartbreakingly beautiful book. Trust me when I say it'll change you. I know it did me.

Rebecca Brandewyne, Julie Garwood, Jude Deveraux, Johanna Lindsey...these are all authors I LOVED when I was a teen, but now as an adult I just can't read them anymore. Though I have to admit that Rebecca Brandewyne did write one book (brainfarting on title) that I really did enjoy. She was a big fan of the mysoginist hero and the doormat heroine. Ugh!

Years by LaVyrle Spencer...still one of my all-time favorite books. Read it for the first time right after it came out (88?) and have reread it at least once a year ever since. Renee won a copy of it and loved it, so I know the book doesn't suck! Yay!

Jane Austen. Especially Pride and Prejudice, but I love them all. They're all so different and they're romances!!!!!!

It's funny, but all through my teens and even into my early twenties I was totally into the bodice-ripper historical romances where the hero's a jerk and the heroine can't think for herself. I inhaled them like they were chocolate. Now? Yeah, not so much. It's amazing what you can stomach when you're 15 and your hormones are going a million miles an hour. It's a totally different story when you're 32 and know better.

Now, at the ripe ol' age of 32, I've got the types of romances I love...and I'm open to new books too. That's one thing about being a reviewer I like. The fact that I get to read so many different types of books. I've had my eyes opened to new authors I never would've read on my own.

At this point in time, my favorites are good historicals (Julia Quinn, Loretta Chase and Lisa Kleypas) and paranormals. Good grief, if I hadn't let a friend talk me into reading those vampire books by Maggie Shayne, I never would've gotten into paranormals. Well, actually, that's not true. I blame boredom my freshman year in high school to getting me into fantasy which led me into paranormals. Those were the days.

Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, David Eddings, Andre Norton...the list goes on and on. Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series is still one of my all-time favorite series because of the fact that the books are so different. She introduced me to a gay hero for pity's sake! And I loved him. I mean, who wouldn't love Vanyel Ashkevron? Tell me, please? :)

Now, it's Nalini Singh, Karen Chance, Patricia Briggs, Meljean Brook...the list goes on and on. And each writer is different.

I'm writing my own paranormal romance and I'm trying to remember the things I love about paranormals and yet add my own flavor to them. I'm doing something I've never read before and I hope when I'm done and it's sent off to the publisher that they like it. I know I sure do.