So many books

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
  - C.S. Lewis

 I love reading.

I used to be quite the reading fiend. As a child I always had a book with me. I would get in trouble for staying up too late reading in my room, or for trying to read during church. And I read super fast, which sometimes led people to believe I was skipping pages. I wasn't. They were just jealous :P

I think I love reading for the same reason I love TV/movies. I love getting caught up in a good story, getting lost in a world that someone else created, getting attached to characters who are well-developed. I'll be honest, I'm a hopeless romantic, so I like a good love-interest storyline in any kind of story.

Once you get into higher education, it's sometimes difficult to read for pleasure. That was definitely true for me. The end of my high school and the duration of my college careers included a lot of reading, but not of my own choosing. In the past year, though, the practice has been coming back to me, and I'm pretty excited about it. I got a Durham County library card earlier in the summer, and Drew bought me a tablet/e-reader for my birthday, so now there's no stopping me. Last night I stayed up way too late finishing a book. Part of me regretted it this morning when my alarm went off, but it was totally worth it.

Some of my reading list for 2012 (not necessarily in order):
- I had never read the Harry Potter books as a kid, so I read the whole series in January/February of this year. They were phenomenal. J.K. Rowling did such a great job creating that world and those characters in a consistent and holistic manner. Really enjoyed them, so much so that I re-read them during the summer :P
- The Hunger Games series I finished in a weekend (before the first movie came out). Loved the first book, the second two were less great, but as a whole I still really enjoyed the series.
- Had to get some classics in there so I re-read Pride and Prejudice, and read for the first time Mansfield Park.
- A friend gave me Pamela Aidan's Darcy Trilogy. Aidan is a librarian and Austen lover, and she wrote these three books from the perspective of Pride & Prejudice's Fitzwilliam Darcy. They were also fantastic. True to the details that Austen provides, but creates a whole new world and side of that love story. If you like P&P, you should definitely check them out.
- I read Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo after seeing news that the producer of the Harry Potter movies was going to produce this movie as well. I liked it. It was well-written, nothing spectacular but enjoyable. Of course, I'd forgotten how lame it is to read series as they are being written, because then you have to wait forever for the next one. It's much nicer to read the series after they're all released. But alas, I guess I'll wait.
- The Matched Trilogy. Fortunately, the first two books in this series are already released, and the third will be out next month, so not as much waiting ;) Also a cool read. Dystopian future big-brotherish setting. Girl starts questioning. Love triangle. Predictable, maybe, but I'm easy to please.
- I Am Number Four and following books. They made a movie out of the first book last year sometime, which I enjoyed, and I saw the books at the library website so I decided to read them. Drew's turned me into a bit of a sci-fi nerd, and this series is about aliens, but it's a cool story. I'm currently waiting to read the third one, but someone's not returning it to the library. Jerks.
- And the book I finished last night: Throne of Glass. Found this randomly on Amazon and after reading some reviews decided to buy it with some birthday Amazon money. According to the author's website, this was her inspiration for the book: “What if Cinderella was an assassin, and went to the ball not to dance with the prince, but to kill him?” That was intriguing enough for me, and I thought it was great. I'm hoping it becomes a series. And soon.

That's all I can recall right now. Going to try to stop myself from finding anything new for the rest of the week so my house will get cleaned and I can get some sleep. But, for next week, any suggestions for more books?