Catching up with an old friend...

As a kid, I loved to read. I come from a family that values education above just about everything else. I didn't always read the most stimulating books, but I was always reading. We would go to the mall and I'd get a book or two from Walden's (I miss Walden's) and I'd have one read by the time we got home.

I started reading the Babysitters Club Little Sister books. I, of course, was far too mature to read those for long and moved on to the real deal quickly. I read almost all of the Babysitters Club books. (In my defense, they were published 1986-2000 so I would have been 16 when they finished printing, a little old to still be reading them. There were 213 in total.)

 I "caught up" to the Babysitters Club-- I got to the point where I was always waiting for the next one to be published. In the meantime, I learned to love Sweet Valley Twins and then Sweet Valley High. I couldn't believe Elizabeth and Jessica were so different. And besides, why didn't their names match better? I thought that was part of being a twin. In retrospect, I blame the character of Jessica for my teenage mishaps. Granted, I did not get in much trouble, but I was not a terribly pleasant preteen/teenager. I wanted to be Jessica Wakefield. I even remember writing about her in my journal. Sorry mom.

I also read Fear Street later on. It was intended to follow Goosebumps (both by R.L. Stine), but I never got into Goosebumps. I was too busy with the Babysitters and the Twins.

In elementary school, there was "Book It," a reading competition sponsored by Pizza Hut. I loved books, I loved pizza. Slam dunk. In middle school, we had class and school competitions for reading the most books. We had to do some kind of project on each book, even if it was just a journal entry-- a mini book report. I read the most books in the school by a long shot. I had multiple journals!

In high school, I was a cheerleader, I had my horse, I had classes that actually required studying. I didn't have time for reading. Things didn't change in college when I had to juggle a long distance relationship, multiple jobs and college stress. During high school and college I only read what I was required to read for class. (That being said, I did read a few very intriguing books for class.)

I finished grad school almost two years ago and have rediscovered my love of books. I don't think I'll ever be into romance novels, but I enjoy a good fluffy book as much as the next guy. I don't like to spend my time and money trying out new authors without some kind of endorsement. I need someone's guarantee that I'm going to enjoy it. Strange, I know.


I have discovered two authors that I really enjoy. Jodi Picoult wrote My Sister's Keeper and The Pact, among others. She incorporates social issues into her stories. Her books are easy reads and the writing is not terribly sophisticated, but the social issues she tackles are thought provoking and create real page-turners.

While enjoy Jodi Picoult, I am infatuated with Maeve Binchy. You might have guessed by the title of my blog that my family is Irish. Not only that, we're very proud of it and slightly obsessive. Binchy herself is Irish and all her books are set in Ireland, many in Dublin. Her later books (Tara Road, Quentins, Scarlet Feather) intertwine the characters-- while they may make a cameo in one book, they take center stage in another. I love that! But I also love the books that stand alone (like Firefly Summer).  At least I think they stand alone. I'm still working on her collection so maybe I'll meet these characters again. I certainly hope so.

 In addition, I've realized that I missed out on a lot of classic books. I feel like I owe it myself to read certain books. I reread The Catcher in the Rye last year and I enjoyed it much more than my 13 year old self did. (I thought I was hot stuff reading something so "sophisticated". I didn't get it. At all.) Right now I'm reading the Chronicles of Narnia. I'm addicted. I'm working on the 4th book now and I can't wait to get through the rest. I'm such a picky reader and I expected the "classics" (as I define them) to be laborious. I couldn't have been more wrong! Imagine, a childrens' fantasy series capturing my attention this way! I'm hooked. I also have the Hobbit on the shelf, so I assume I'll have to read the Lord of the Rings series when I'm done with that.

I feel a little bit like I cheated myself for about 10 years. I missed out on 10 years of reading entertaining, enlightening, thought-provoking books. I'm trying to make up for lost time now, getting to know my old friend all over again. What books should I add to my list?