I don't remember if I've broached the subject of Game of Thrones with you readers, but let me tell you that "A Dance With Dragons" has become the bane of my existence. I've been trying to read it for approximately a year, and have only made it through half of the book. It's currently acting as a prop for the fan in my room that my girlfriend and I need to use in order to avoid drowning in sweat throughout the night. (My apartment complex charges an additional $20 a month for a second AC unit... can you believe that? GTFO of here.)
My second "vacation" of 2014 was extremely instrumental in kick starting what I used to think of as a behavior as necessary as breathing: reading books!
Not only have I started reading books again, but I've been reading with gusto, reading like it's an Olympic sport! During Memorial Day Weekend, I read three books, collectively over 1000 pages with varying degrees of difficulty.
The first book I read was "The Husband List" by Janet Evanovich. While it was entertaining and kept my attention, it wasn't one of her better stories. It was cute, an adorable-but-predictable love story about the girl who is destined to marry the Duke but is in love with the bad boy. Cute, but already done a hundred times over.
The second book that I read was a beautifully written story called "Perfect Match" by Jodi Piccoult. Now, Let me be the first person to say that Jodi Piccoult is so much more than just a writer, she's a creator, a painter of life portraits so realistic that you can see the world clear as day on hundreds of black and white pages. Unfortunately, Piccoult has set the bar extensively high, and though "Perfect Match" was amazing, it didn't quite reach "The Pact", "House Rules", or my personal favorite, "Handle With Care".
Third book that I read this weekend was "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green.
I'm not sure whether I was so desperate to read this because of the whispers through crowds overheard about the pain that would come with the end of the novel, or the hypnotic chemistry of the teenage characters from the movie trailer that haunts my living room, but as soon as Mosski told me that she had a copy, I jumped at the chance (literally jumped out of my seat at work) to borrow it from her.
My thoughts about this young adult fiction is that, while it's a beautifully tragic love story that portrays an honest depiction of humanity, I was hoping for just a little bit more.
These are three wonderfully written books by extremely amazing writers. Why, then, am I finding myself equally let down by such a slight margin? It's not as if these were horrific let downs, after weeks or years of waiting patiently for new releases. These were (mostly) books I read out of sheer happenstance.
I don't know the reason. I really don't. I do know, though, that I'm making a commitment to read more this year. Maybe I'll find out the reason for my doubts, or maybe I will find that one book that is going to completely change my life.
