Reading

I have always enjoyed reading a good book, but have never found the genre that appeals to me the most. Sometimes I like suspense, sometimes a good romance, sometimes books directed a young adults...it all depends on my mood and where I am in my life. Needless to say, it is always hard for me to find a book to read, so I tend to refer to lists of books or a set by one author.

I was reading from Oprah's Book Club list, for a while, and then I got into some really dark books (Middlesex, Beloved, and The Road)so I took a break. Don't get me wrong, they aren't all dark. I truly loved The Good Earth, The Measure of a Man, and Icy Sparks. And I intend on revisiting her list at some point, because I am a list kind of girl.

I tried reading all of the John Grisham books, but they all started to sound the same after a while. Someone in the South committed a wrong-doing and it is up to a lawyer type person to save them. The lawyer finds himself in the process...blah, blah, blah. However, I did enjoy his stray away from lawyer stories in both The Bleachers and Skipping Christmas.

I love reading Nicholas Spark's books, but they too begin to all sound the same. Someone loves someone and there are obstacles and they overcome them, but at a price...blah, blah, blah. He did venture off in the book, Three Weeks With My Brother. That book really makes me want to visit Easter Island, which I am not sure is possible anymore.

I have also read the Harry Potter and The Twilight series. I refused at first, but was drawn in by the movies. I can see why "young adults" fell in love with both series. I could not put them down once I started reading them. Luckily I held off long enough that I did not have to wait for the next one to come out, with the exception of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I joined a book club, or I should say helped form one with my girlfriends. So far we are on book three. (I am enjoying the reading, I just wish everyone else would finish the books before we met to talk about them.) We started with light reading, Lipstick Jungle. I picked the first one and honestly, the reason I picked it was because it was on sale at Borders for $3.99 and it was written by the author of Sex and the City. It was an okay book. Next we read Best Friends Forever, which was pretty good, too. Both of those were kind of frou-frou books, but the one we are reading now, She's Come Undone, is a bit more dark. I really like the book club thing, because we all have different tastes and it is opening me up to books I may have not read before.

Now we come to today. I went to Borders to spend my gift card before they went out of business. (So sad to hear!) I found a book titled, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I thought to myself, "This book is right up my alley!" It is basically a list of books that 100 plus critics put together. It is split up by century and has a little synopsis of each book. Now, I have no excuse for not finding a good book! Although, my husband suggested I should read all the books on our bookshelves first. He has a lot of sci-fi stuff he wants me to read. I told him I would read it if it was in the book. :)

The first book I will be reading from the 1001 list is Aesop's Fables from 4 BC. I wonder how many of these books I will be able to download for free with iBooks?