My Guilty Pleasure

I love to read... ever since I was a little girl. It started with me making up stories and "reading" them to my Sesame Street stuffed animals. The best part of summer was the library's summer reading program. As I grew, so did my passion for books. The reason I love to travel stems from my passion for reading. I want to see the places I've imagined in my head, and experience the cultures I've read about. My guilty pleasure in life is to get in the tub with bubble bath and a book and read it cover to cover.... and I've done this hundreds of times. That's why we have a 6' long jacuzzi tub here at the house.

As a kid I loved Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, and the Nancy Drew series. My first adult author I got hooked on was John Grisham. I love chick lit, especially in the summer. There is more than enough work published by Nora Roberts, Barbara Delinsky, and Fern Michaels to keep me occupied while I'm catching rays over the summers. Nelson Demille, Dan Brown, Nicholas Sparks, James Patterson... the list is never ending. And everyday I can find something new and exciting to read- on my bookcase, actually. I have dozens of books still left to read.

In the past few years though, there are a couple of authors who have come out of the woodwork and left me spellbound. Oh yes, that was a cheesy reference to the magical world of Harry Potter than J.K. Rowling created (which will go down as my second favorite story ever written, second only to Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice). Then came Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. I started on a Saturday morning, and was done by Tuesday night. Layne has learned that when I get in this mood, it's best to just let me be and get my reading on, because the fantasy world created by a series of novels will consume my thoughts until I get finished reading it. It's been awhile... but I've been suckered in again. And yes... it is another series of books that were originally written for children. I'm talking about Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a five book series written by Rick Riordan.

The first book was turned into a movie that was released this year. After I saw the trailer, I was intrigued, so I requested the book from the public library. The waiting list was longer than the list for Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol." I finally caved and purchased the books when I saw them on sale at Wal-Mart... and man, am I glad I did. They haven't disappointed me. I've been whisked away into the world of the Titans, Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Apollo, Aphrodite, Athena... the list is never ending. I feel like I'm sitting in my freshman history class at Mount Carmel again, learning about the gods of Greek Mythology. I'm in my own personal heaven.

I've finished the fourth book of the series this morning, and am getting ready to start the 5th novel tonight (after the hubs falls asleep). I'm giddy with excitement, and can't wait to see how this New York Times#1 best-selling series ends! We'll see what follows after that...