Wednesday, July 24, 2013

A Little About Me. . .


Welcome to my Hideaway! I am new to blogging & haven't really written anything in a while, but I decided to try my hand at both. I have been reading books practically non-stop since I discovered what words were. Growing up, my mother quickly learned that the most effective punishment for me was to take away my book (usually because I was reading instead of doing whatever she told me to do, but that's beside the point!)

As a teenager, I would often read books that were geared towards a much older audience. (But really, what 15 year old girl hasn't gotten their hands on a Harlequin novel & giggled with her girlfriends over the sex scenes?) However, as I actually grew into the target age range of those books, it became harder & harder for me to find a story that would take me away. It felt as if a lot of the "popular" adult fiction authors had gotten lazy. I was rarely surprised by a story and had almost gotten bored with reading...but I could never truly give up my first love! So, I kept searching...

Several years ago, I got my first desk job. I found that I worked best when I drowned out the background noise & office chatter. At first I tried music, but then, on a whim, I checked out an audiobook from the library. My life was changed! Now, I could work & read at the same time! The only catch was that I needed to find a story that interested me, but at the same time, was one I could follow with regular interruptions by co-workers or the phone. Thanks to the wonderful world of Harry Potter (which for the record is FANTASTICALLY narrated by Jim Dale), I drifted more into the Young Adult genre. I'll admit...I'm a girly girl when it comes to the books I read. So, I have always been drawn to books with some sort of a romantic story line. However, through YA Fantasy novels I was able to go on adventures. I could be a wizard, hang out with faeries, spend my summers at Camp Half-Blood, fall in love with were-wolves (sorry vampire lovers!), or just be 16 & fall in love for the first time again. As I started to feel a new excitement about reading, I began to wonder about the "target audiences" of books. Who decides that I am too old or too young to like a certain story? At first, I was embarrassed when I realized that the majority of my reading material was coming out of the kids section of the library, but then I just embraced it. I had found a group of authors that were actually being creative with their writing.

My life was changed once again when I finally gave in & bought a Kindle. I bought it solely for travel because I found that carrying 3 or 4 books with me wherever I went got heavy. However, now that I have it, I love it more than I could have imagined. It's so light & easy to hold! And holds hundreds of books! Now, I tend to miss it when I am reading a "real" book. I never thought I'd say that! Part of me still dreams of having a house some day with the perfect library: floor to ceiling bookshelves, a sliding ladder, a cozy couch & perfect lighting. Though, chances are, now those shelves would only contain the books that I LOVED & had to own for the art of displaying them (preferably signed by the author!), and I would be curled up on the couch with my Kindle!

Most recently, thanks to Kindle, I have stumbled upon the world of independently published authors. While I was skeptical at first of cheap & free ebooks (figuring that they couldn't be that good if they were just giving them away), I have been pleasantly surprised! I've found a lot of fantastic books that were being given away just to get the authors some recognition. It has been fun watching some of those authors go from giving digital copies away to being best sellers who now have physical copies of their books on the shelves at the local bookstore.

That's where this blog comes in. I am going to spotlight books that I loved & authors that shine. If I don't like a book, chances are I won't take the time to write about it.  So, leave your shoes at the door, grab a couch (or hammock!) and go on an adventure with me!  If you find a book here that you love as much as I do, let me know!  Feel free to send me recommendations as well...I'm always looking for a new book!

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