Thursday, May 10, 2012

Obsessive Book-Reading

I have a long history of being an obsessive reader... When I was little, my parents used to yell at me to turn off the light and go to sleep. And I never did... "Just one more chapter!" has long been my internal battle-cry. I would read anything I could get my hands on, much to the chagrin of my mom, who read more than her fair share of dirty bodice-ribbers.


My taste in books took a sharp dive when I started reading V.C. Andrews (who has been dead for a gajillion years but is still cranking out novels somehow) and Jackie Collins (who is probably older than V.C. Andrews but is better preserved). I'm not sure it ever recovered...

Twilight was probably the first book that I obsessed over as an adult (and by "adult" I mean my current-ish age). I may have fallen in love with others here and there (Smila's Sense of Snow, Harry Potter, A Million Little Pieces {{sigh}}, anything written by Amy or David Sedaris, and a hundred others I can't think of right now), but Twilight had that "I-can't-quit-you" quality that so many other books had lacked. And it got me started reading more often, since I had been slacking.

Which leads me to Game of Thrones. JJ raved about these books when she read them. And so I realized I wanted to read them, and snagged GoT, the first book in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, off her bookshelf one night when she wasn't looking. Ok fine I ransacked her bookshelf  and told her I was stealing it. There may have been copious amounts of wine involved. Whatever.

It took me a couple of tries to get into it... Mostly because of this:

No, not because I was reading upside down. It's because the font is inexplicably tiny and makes me glad that Anthropologie sells cute reading glasses. Also, I am old.

As a reminder, Twilight looks like this:

Oh fuck you, camera phone - you were straight when I took this photo. Anyway, that is Twilight there on top. I mean the left. With the big font, lots of space between the lines, and wide margins. No reading glasses needed.

I am pretty sure you could fit most of the Twilight Saga into the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire, and the bulk of Game of Thrones isn't devoted to adjectives describing anyone's preternatural beauty or making comparisons to Greek gods and marble statues. In Game of Thrones, nobody says "gosh" or "Holy crow!" - granted, there are lots of references to crows, but most of the crows are feasting on corpses, so it's a little different.

And I cannot put it down. At all. Book Three, A Storm of Swords, was so jam-packed with exciting shit going on that I would wake up early to read it, and it barely left my hands until late every night when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. In between, I would dream about it - it was hard to stop my brain from obsessing over the characters while I slept.

 Especially her...

I'm on Book Four - A Feast for Crows - now, and everyone I have talked to who has read the series shoots me a pitying look when I tell them this. But I'm committed and I'm going to rip through this and get to book five if it kills me (and it might, if I don't get more sleep soon). I have never read fantasy or anything of this genre before and honestly it's a real bitch to keep track of all the characters sometimes, but it's totally worth it and I have learned to re-read or read on and get over it in situations where I am not 100% sure who the bad guys are (don't worry, it will always become amazingly apparent sooner or later).

So what is the last book that made YOU lose sleep, call out sick from work, and stay home on a Saturday night because you didn't want to do anything else in the whole wide world but read???

29 comments:

  1. I began loving the series, but after A Feast for Crows things got a little meh. I am worried that next book Winds of Winter will be out in say 5 years?

    I commented last night and mentioned "Graceling" "Fire" and "Bitterblue" as great reads. HOwever the last book I couldn't put down would be Alpha and Omega "Fair Game" by Patricia Briggs and the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix. Again...LOVE the book discussion on your site!

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    1. I was unable to put down book 3, but book 4 is living up to its reputation. I read a review on amazon that summed it up by saying nothing happens and it barely adds anything to the overall narrative, which is sad, because it does seem like the author is taking forever in between books and he's no spring chicken (fingers crossed this all works out jsut fine...)

      I will check out these recs - if I ever make it through this series, anyway. : )

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    2. I read them all last summer. I ate them up and loved them at first, but towards the end I was a bit frustrated and freaked out that Mr. Martin won't publish anything...not to mention but his website doesn't give any indication as to when it will be out. Read them, then move on because if you are like me you can't NOT read them. Plus it looks like there are some good recs from other people on here. And I kind of get all rebellious about finishing a book like "I'll show you, you long ass book and finish you!" when I get frustrated. Can't wait to hear what you think, no one I know (you know in person) has read them so I can't talk about it. I love that you talked about it on the blog. Thanks again!

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  2. The remedy for fine print is a Kindle. You can adjust the font size to suit your vision requirements!

    Just remember, if the font is really big (i.e. three small words to a line) the person sitting near you can probably read it too!

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  3. I read books, I read off my Kindle..I even read at work and not in the "sneak off to the bathroom" kind of way. Phone right out there, Kindle app on, reading on the security camera. Surprised I'm still employed actually...

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    1. That takes balls, my friend. I'll openly read on my lunch break but usually I just head for the bathroom, complaining that the Chipotle hurt my stomach... Zero shame.

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  4. I promised myself that I would read GoT over the summer. I too have a bad habit of reading all night and then trying to get through the work day on 2 hrs of sleep. Since I'm no longer *ahem* twenty-ish (or even thirty-ish) it isn't pretty when I don't get enough sleep. The last book I absolutely could not put down was A Discovery of Witches. And the sequel comes out in July. Squee!

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    1. I'm waiting for that book, too! I was very caught up in the first book. Although in hindsight I am not sure why, because when you think about it, not a whole heck of a lot actually takes place. But whatever - I was entertained, and that's all that really matters, right?

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  5. I loved to read as a kid, Judy Blume, all those Ramona books, V.C. Andrew's Dawn was my first naughty book, then onto Danielle Steel and Dean Koontz. I fell off the reading bus during college and it was Twilight that brought me back hard. Then fanfics like Awake. Now I'm reading all the time. GoT is next.

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  6. For me it was the Black Dagger brotherhood. Luckily, I had purchased the first 6 book set so I can burn through each one at my pace. If the book interests me I can read all night until Im done. I read Eclipse in 4.5 hours. I completed book 10 last week and I guess I have to wait a year for the next one. sad panda)
    I also obsessed about Discovery of Witches and I have a note on my calender to purchase the book when it comes out. Im glad I got into twilight in November 08. It would drive me insane waiting for books.
    FF is even worse, there are times I drop everything for a chapter update

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    1. I cannot even tell you how happy I am that all the twilight books were published by the time I read them - I am going to pitch a fit when I get to the end of book five in the GoT series. Gah. It makes me upset just thinking about it!

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  7. Mortal Instruments Series is definitely taking up bed and sleep space.
    I'm impressed that you are reading GoT. People tell me to get through the first 5 chaps, but I was ready to take copious notes as not to mix up the characters. So I decided to put the DVD of S1 on hold at the library before I read the book. I'm now hold #323 of 180 copies in circulation (Used to be hold #560).

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  8. I was an obsessive reader as a kid too, lost my passion for it over time, and got my reading mojo back thanks to Twilight. Series I've loved: Dark Materials, Gemma Doyle... and the Luxe series, which are indulgent beach-read crap but still yummy. I hate, hate, hate reading an unfinished series, so I'm waiting for GoT to wrap up before I start them. Hopefully this happens before I'm 80.

    Am going to look into Mortal Instruments now! You know, because the literally one foot tall stack of to-read books on my nightstand is clearly too short.

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    1. I know this sounds terrible but there is a fear among many die hard GoT fans that the author is going to, well, diebeforehefinishestheseries. When I started ripping through all those GoT books, I had no idea that the series wasn't finished, AND he takes years to write each book.

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  9. Okay, so Discovery of Witches has been recommended SO many times by you guys. I'm officially downloading it today.

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    1. Oooor you can just borrow it from me.

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    2. You wont regret it JJ! The second book comes out this July I believe.

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  10. Twilight started me reading again. I really want to start GoT. Need to get the actual book not for Kindle. Too many characters and I need to flip back and forth to re-read about them. A good fantasy book is Wheel of Time series, very long as well. I loved Shadow of the Wind, couldn't put it down.

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    1. I've seen other people reference Wheel of Time, too (although I think there were also "and the author lost it at book so-and-so" comments, as with book 4 of GoT). Sounds like it's worth checking out!

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  11. The Fever Series by karen Marie Moning really got me. Not since Twilight have I been so hooked on fictional characters. All I did was read like a maniac until I finished all 5 books. The author has confirmed she is writing additional books for this series and I can't wait!

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  12. I wish I had more time to read. **Sigh** The list is growing longer and longer and longer. Thanks for all the recs.

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  13. I agree that Twilight had that something special. It still does. When I've read through a ton of other books I'll get that itch to pick up Twilight, even though I know every single line of the book by now. It's the first book that literally made me breathless. We all can admit it isnt Stephenies writing prowess that left us flipping pages at high speed and panting, but Edward freaken Cullen and her ability to make us feel Bellas fear and lust with a mere golden eyed glance. No book has ever done that for me except Twilight. But Im still trying to look, tearing through book after book. Thats why you guys are so great. You find all these great books with our hornified frame of mind. Lol!

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  14. I just finished The Passage by Justin Cronin. This is a lot like GoT in the sense that there are a lot of characters and the story skips around a lot, but overall I liked it. The sequel is due in August. I love reading also and always look forward to book recommendations from you guys.

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  15. I am an obsessive reader as well, I rarely wath TV, and read for several hours daily, I also re-read almost every book! Yes, it's a sickness. I have been "hooked" on the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. They are semi-historical & totally sexy, 7 books so far with an 8 due out early 2013.
    I'm also in trilogy hell: Insurgent & Divergent, Matched & Crossed, Delerium & Pandamonium, Birthmarked & Prized - all of these have a third book due out. But after this post, I may need to pick up Game of Thrones.

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    1. Did you like the Echo from that series? I threw the book across the room at the end. I was PISSED. My husband said I needed therapy because he was tired of hearing me ranting about it. Not sure I can read the next one.....grrrr. But the first couple books were so good!

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  16. I love those Black Dagger Brotherhood books , and read the Fever series too. All worthwhile investments!

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  17. I waited 7 freaking years to read Dance of Dragons. I hit (i accidently wrote 'hate' there) page 100 and took it back to the library. I also nearly put a post-it note inside it for the next reader to prepare them for the utter trite it was.

    Look, I'm a big time reader, I can usually read about 100 pages an hour...but this thing was so long awaited and then so drawn out about nothing...and I was so damn mad that his HBO series pushed this book back that I refuse to watch it.

    That said...

    I really liked the first couple books in the series when I read them BEFORE I HAD KIDS. Seven years ago. Basically an entire lifetime ago.

    Go get the Fever books by Karen Moning. I like Discovery of Witches, but the Fever books are way sexier and kick ass(ier) than Discovery....

    Plus the series is FINISHED. So - yeah. Also if the first book bugs you because Mac is so annoying and girlie - there is a reason for that - you have to get thru the second book to decide if you like it or not. And just so you know, Barron has entered my naughty time dreams way more than Edward ever has...

    Moning has also written a bunch of Highlander books - also fun to read for the smutty, kilty goodness. Those also get better as you go.

    Another fun series are the Anita Blake Vampire Executioner books. Totally outrageous and sexy...but are great beach reads (if you need to excuse yourself from the kids to um. take care of some business.)

    Other great books: Across the Universe and A Million Suns by Beth Revis is GREAT. And right now I'm in the middle of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor which might be the best book I've read ALL YEAR.

    OK. Happy reading twitards!!!!

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  18. Another kick ass book rec post! I've been bogged down with books for school, but honestly, the reading has been awesome.

    I've been an obsessive reader since as long as I remember. My mommypants is the same way. When I moved back home for a year, we would just hang out in the living room with an ipod on, and we would be up until forever reading our respective books. I will always remember the night we went to the midnight release of HP6 and we were reading at the same time...Good memories :)

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  19. So far the Twilight Saga is the only book(s) that held me so captive that I missed sleep or stayed home specifically to read. Of course I have a bookcase filled of other books that might do that... if I could ever get to them.

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