Like a Virgin

Hi, I'm Allison. I practically feel like a reading virgin. I mean I have been able to read, but it was never something that I did willingly. When I was a kid my parents had to bribe me to read for "fun" with tapes (for you youngins that is what music used to be on before CDs and MP3s...man, I feel old). And even with that bribe I barely read. Don't even get me started on English class in high school. I really tried to get away with reading as little as possible...movies and Cliff Notes were often my friends. How could I possibly be expected to suffer through Great Expectations??? Of course there were a few books that I didn't mind like A Separate Peace and Catch-22, but there weren't too many. I also had to read "for pleasure" for Reading Enrichment (basically a class designed to improve your verbal SAT scores) in high school.

Once I left for college and the bribes stopped, my reading practically did too. I did have to take the requisite English class in college, but I wisely chose What is a Fairy Tale? Since then I probably have averaged about a book or two a year. Impressive, huh? I would read each new book in the Alex Delaware series by Jonathan Kellerman and I read the entire Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. And that was about it.

Well, this year that all changed. My mom is so proud. lol I started out the year by reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer to see what all the fuss was about. I was completely hooked. Of course, I immediately had to read the rest of the series...one of the advantages to not starting a series until it is already complete. I found the books so entertaining that I literally could not put them down. Around the same time I had decided that I should be walking more for exercise to help my back and general health. Since I did not want to put the books down, I jury rigged a bookholder for my treadmill using a cookbook holder I received as a wedding gift. I immediately found that reading on the treadmill made the time fly by much quicker than listening to music did. I've already walked over 280 miles this year!

So far this year I have read the entire Twilight series (multiple times), The Tenth Circle by Picoult, Hide & Seek by Patterson, Bones by Kellerman and almost all of the Pendergast novels by Preston & Child (thanks Heidi!).

Heather and I are hoping to share with you our reviews of various books from pure fluff to the classics. Please feel free to give us your own recommendations. Thanks!