On Reading

I had forgotten what it was like to read a good book.  A really good book.

On the boat trip, I read a lot.  I devoured books.  There were book exchanges at most marinas, some better than others.  And cruisers tend to have the same taste  in reading material.  We don't like to think too much. We like to be entertained.  Nothing too complicated or intellectual.  We like a good story, some fun action, and a happy ending.  Crime novels are always available, as wells as a good supply of action-adventures.  Clive Cussler is a big favorite of cruisers.  Many of his books take place in prime cruising grounds, so the boat people eat it up.  The stories are fun and action-packed.  But there was never too much to process or understand.  It was just a story for entertainment.  When the book was over, I moved on to another and never gave it another thought.

Since we came back, I picked up the series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin.  We watched the HBO series based on the first book, A Game of Thrones.  Wow, so good!  After watching the series, I knew I had to read the books.  And my friend Larry had been telling me for years that I should read them.  So I finally started.  Even though I knew pretty much what would happen in the first book (the tv show very closely followed the novel), I was still engrossed.  When I read the second book, I couldn't put it down.  Every time I finished a book, I was sad it was over, but I couldn't wait to get too the next one!  What's going to happen?  Where in the world is this series going?  Just when I think I might have a handle on where a storyline is headed, Martin kills off, kidnaps, or changes alliances of a key character.  Every chapter is written from the perspective of a different character.  Even the villains get chapters sometimes.  And this is when things get really interesting.  I may hate a character, can't wait until he dies, but then he gets a chapter.  Suddenly, there's a little more sympathy toward him.  After a few chapters, I actually start to like him.  What the hell?  This character did despicable things early on in the book, and now I want things to work out for him?  This is great writing!  I'm now in the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons.  This is most recently published.  After I finish this one, there won't be another one to read for years, probably.  This will break my heart.  These books are amazing!  I haven't been so caught up in a series since Stephen King's The Dark Tower.  And as much as I love that series, I think this one is better.

But that's not all.  Several people recommended The Hunger Games to me.  It's a young adult series, which can be very hit or miss.  The Harry Potter books are excellent, while the Twilight series is less well-received (I personally haven't read any Twilight, so I can't attest to their quality).  I borrowed The Hunger Games from Corrine.  It's a very fast read, just a couple of days.  Wow, so good!  The second and third books aren't available in paperback, and I've been to cheap to buy them for myself.  But Thaddeus gave me the second book Catching Fire for Christmas.  I read it last week.  Wow, also really good!  Maybe better than the first!  And now I'm waiting for the third one to come from Amazon.  I can't wait until it gets here!  And I know the third one is the last, so the series will be over.  This makes me sad.  I am so excited about reading it, but I'm not looking forward to the post-series melancholy that's bound to happen.

These two series have me reading obsessively again.  Just before bed, I have to read a chapter (or two or three, and suddenly it's way past my bedtime, but I still can't put the book down).  It had been a really long time since any novel had me so enthralled.  But I'm almost at the end of both of them.

What am I supposed to read next?