The Great Love of My Life

Sound interesting? Well, *I* think it is...but it's not what you're thinking. At least I doubt it is, but then I'm not a mind-reader, so what do I know?

Nope, not a mind-reader, but I AM a book reader. A lover of books, if you will. Hence my title, "The Great LOVE of My Life." And THIS time the love is reciprocal. I know my books love me. They love to be taken off the shelf and held. They love all the attention. Not a cursory glance, but pouring over the details.

You can't just grab a book and plunge in. You have to read the thingie on the back...which I KNEW the name of until I went to write this sentence. (I can say that and you'll never know for sure, will you????) You have to read the dedication, any prefaces, any forwards, any character maps or explanations, any acknowledgements. It all matters. Really the only things that don't HAVE to HAVE to HAVE to be read are the title page with all the copyright dates and ::yaaaaaaaaaaawn:: publishing's details AND... the chapter titles. Some call this the "table of contents" when the word occurs when they're ready to type it. Yeah, you can skip the "Table of Contents" ... but only if it's fiction ... because some authors just don't think of us obsessive readers who are going to look at the chapter titles and figure out the story before we read it. Then we feel cranky. So you can skip the Table of Contents. (See how I remembered in time?)

I also love my computer ... using the word "love" rather carelessly, but you know what I mean. I enjoy it. It's my greatest past-time ... or is that pass-time??? Anyway lots of time goes bye-bye right here. But that's because I have friends in here AND because I love to write. I do. And in my less humble moments I like to read what I wrote. How's that for a humble spirit?

But I'm sorry to say that this computer has put the squeeze on my favorite hobby. I don't get near as much reading (or cleaning or working or...or...or) done because of this. I used to read every spare minute. And before reading was the thing ... which was a LOOOOOOOONG time ago ... tv was the thing. I was a little couch potato.

And now? Yeah, not a lot of tv ... although I DO have a few shows I like to see. And of course there's movies. Have I ever mentioned Mamma Mia? No? Remind me. I'll fill you in. har har

Man, I'm just a rambling rambling rambling rambling woman tonight.

This is about my great love of reading. Tonight (thanks to Mummy's link on her blog) I found Library Thing and I joined and added my favorite books and voila! in my side column is now a widget with random titles I love reading.

I'm a re-reader too. If I've read it and I liked it, I'll re-read it. Must not just borrow, but OWN good books. Hence a very full bookshelf ... or two ... in my living room.

Top 5 (ok, 6, but one of them is a team, so it kind of only makes 5) favorite authors? Lori Wick (::the crowd goes wild::roaring applause:: ... she KNOWS how people are REALLY and truly supposed to live ... at the heart and soul level ... and relate to each other), Francine Rivers (I stand amazed at the way she weaves so many stories into one), Gilbert Morris (a little history with your romance, folks?), Brock & Bodie Thoene (more great history, especially around WWII...love how the characters in one series show up in other serieses) and Max Lucado (let's hear it for a NON-fiction guy ... although he does some kid's fiction, too ... GREAT writer of inspirational literature ... and a favorite author I shared with my dad.)

Ok, when I started writing, I had no idea where I was going other than sharing that I love reading. And now I'm not sure where I've gone. But I'm tired and don't think I'll bother sprucing this one up. And it MIGHT not be one of my favorite re-reads, lol.

Oh wait ... one last thing. FAVORITE of ALL books (aside from my Bible): The Last Sin-Eater, Francine Rivers. It's a favorite for a couple reasons. First and foremost because it's just jaw-dropping good. And secondly, the first time ... hmmmm ... maybe the second time I read the book, I was on the road with my parents. It was during the month after I'd separated from my ex-husband. The girls were tiny and we did a lot of road trips that month. During one long drive to visit my sister for Christmas, my Dad asked me to read the book out loud. So I read the whole book (not all at once) to my mom and dad. When we'd be driving along quietly, Dad would suddenly say, "Let's see what's happening with the Kai." So I'd take out the book and we'd read some more. I like to read out loud, and for whatever reason I really enjoyed the fact that my dad wanted me to read it to him. I've loaned this book out so many times. I never get it back either, so it must be good. So I re-buy it ... and loan it again. Not a quick learner, lol.

And now that I've gone on THIS long, I hope YOU like reading, too. :D