Dark Hunter: Fantasy Lover

And the aliteration is back!

So this book was basically porn for women.

I wasn’t hating it ;OP

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Okay, this one still choked me up here and there, but I did better, my friends!

I do find it really hard not to get depressed every time a very specific character makes an appearance. Those who have read to the end, probably know to whom I am referring, but in an effort to hold down the spoilers, I’ll keep it as vague as I can.

The second Harry Potter book is one of my favorites in the series. Not the movie, I might add – reading it isn’t so bad, but there’s something disturbing about watching someone vomit slugs, oh and the spiders… Besides which, I think The Chamber of Secrets was the most awkward when it came to the age of the actors.

The book, however, was a complete shock to me when I initially picked it up. There are whispers from the walls, “…rip…tear…kill” and there’s blood pouring, and eyes being plucked out and what not. I hadn’t, when I read it, expected that it was going to enter into scary gore-world. I remember being pleased that it shot for a more adult audience almost straight off the bat.

And there’s something about a deep, sinister, somewhat elusive history that really gets me into a book. I absolutely love back story, so the story of Tom Riddle had me glued to it, even the second time around.

I wish I had the stamina to just read these books over and over and over and over and over and over and over…this world is marvelous, is it not?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I promise to not start every blog entry with an S aliteration

I chose, for my second book of 52, the first Harry Potter novel, to be followed, I would hope, by the other six (one never knows as I sometimes get distracted).

I made this choice, because a friend of mine who is reading the series for the first time made it to the fifth book and I got desperately jealous and wanted to join her. I’m making her read something else until I catch up, so I have to sort of zoom through them.

The first time I read the Harry Potter books, I started on book #1 the day book #7 was released. I had been a little fanatical about the movies (I never denied my geekiness, mind you) and had decided to wait until the last film was over before starting in on the novels…this was meant to help nullify the ‘end of the series’ blues which, if you’re reading this blog, you probably understand.

However, with all of the hype that The Deathly Hallows drew, I decided if I waited, someone would inevitably give away the ending.

So I read all seven books in three weeks…

It was like living seven years in three weeks, like growing up all over again, like diving headfirst into a pool of magic goodness.

This immersion ended somewhere between 5:00 in the morning and 6:00 in the morning, with me puddled into a ball of sobs in my bed. It was entirely ridiculous.

This is the first time I have tackled reading them again since that experience.

I just finished The Socerer’s Stone and have decided that I shouldn’t read them at work anymore. The first book is generally hailed as the one written for a younger readership, aka. the least engrossing. I almost burst into tears at least five times…it’s not even sad yet…

Needless to say, I think these characters are now a part of my soul. I feel as they feel, each and every time I repeat their adventure, be it through film or novel.

Despite the decision that I should avoid the workplace, I’m about to dash out into the freezing cold and falling snow to get the second book out of my car, dash back, open it, and embark on The Chamber of Secrets.

Someone remind me to stop, though, before I get to the fifth book and completely lose control.

Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill

Nancy Drew seems only to wear designer jeans. In the paragraphs to follow, it is revealed that Nancy has gone out to buy an entirely new wardrobe for her first case in “Secrets Can Kill,” where she goes undercover as a high schooler.

That is, the first case in the 1980’s series of Nancy Drew books, aimed at an older teenaged audience. I should point out here that the case takes approximately one week to complete. That’s a hell of a lot of clothes for a week long adventure.

She crashes her Mustang GT convertible twice in this book.

Blink.

Her father surprises her with a new one after she blows it up the first time. She half-heartedly throws this into conversation with the blond hunk of an 18 year old boy who she is blatantly hitting on.

Which, of course, brings us to our next point – 1980’s Nancy Drew is totally a slut. We all remember Ned Nickerson, right? He’s Nancy’s steady, college-going preppy boyfriend. Yeah, you certainly wouldn’t guess that from the way she is throwing herself at Mr. Daryl Gray in this here book. It takes her all of ten minutes to start throwing out coy smiles and gentle touches and what not. She does this all while remembering that Ned is the one she loves, thereby deflating the balloon of guilt before it gets too big.

This would all be somewhat nifty if she were using her feminine wiles to find clues and coerce people into crap – hell, I’m down with the power of femininity, but she actually blinds herself to the situation by going all googly-eyed over Mr. Blond-and-Blue-Eyed. You’re left feeling kind of like she was deliberately duped.

Nancy Drew was my hero when I was a kid. I think she’s the reason I now where glasses – I would stay up until 3:00 am with a flashlight, avoiding the scolding of my parents, just to read, read, read. The fact that it was a quick read brought it to the top of my list for 52 books in 52 weeks, but I also have been wanting to reread one for years – these books are the books that made me who I am today, an avid, avid, book-lover.

So it was with a touch of shock that I discovered that 1980’s Nancy is, in fact, egotistical, angry, vengeful , and a little stupid half the time.

Oddly, this has not lessened nor changed my love for Ms. Drew. If it weren’t for my insanely long list of books I need to get to, I would have jumped immediately into “Deadly Intent,” Case #2. If long-ago memory serves, Nancy and Ned have some problems in the next couple of books, and I wanna see how she explains herself…teehee.

I like to fixate on things…some people would call it obsessive, but I prefer the term “fixation” – it’s only mildly creepy.

            I have had my share of fixations, not the least of which is an endless passion for reading. I would fill you in on my other obsessions (tea, yarn, travel,…owls) but they get stranger and stranger, and eventually you would dub me “odd,” so I’ll stick with reading.

            Not two weeks ago, a friend of mine informed me that she would be attempting the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge in 2009. She asked me if I wanted to join her, and I immediately told her no. I have this nasty tendency to sign up for far too many things. She pressed a bit and I begrudgingly told her I’d think about it. After all, these things are stated all the time and not necessarily done. I think there’s even an idiom to that effect.

She had started a group in a website we frequent and she pressed me to join – then she pressed me to moderate with her. So now my friend and I had a group on our website called 52 Books in 52 Weeks. We invited our friends to join with us, one did, so it was looking like it was going to be a three person contest which would, no doubt, fizzle out by the end of January.

About a week and a half ago, we posted our group to the website and anyone who wanted to join could. Today, we have 426 members. Whoa…

No one is really going to notice that I’m a moderator, and they’re all strangers really – who’s going to care if I don’t hit my goal? - but suddenly I felt this pressure to actually attempt to read 52 books in 52 weeks.

Ah well, I suppose my reputation for being a project person is well deserved. I’m going to give it a go – eep!

So then the planning began. Only books begun after the 1st of January could be included in my total. That meant I had to finish reading all books I had started prior to that date, or I would have to start them over. It’s December 29th and I still have one to finish. Wish me luck, cause I have a good 300+ pages left to go, it’s the first book in an 8 book series, and I reaaaaaaally don’t want to reread the sucker.

My second order of business was making a mental list of the books I wanted to read in my mind…the fun part. I did the math quickly, recognizing problems like school (I start for a second bachelor’s degree on Jan. 6th), holidays, vacations, emergencies, etc. These things would put a serious crimp in the goal, because if you fall behind by one week, recovering would be a total bitch. A couple of “cheater” books would have to be necessary – I define cheater books as books that will take me two days or less to read.

I figure I should throw some of those cheater books in right from the get go Therefore, I’m going to start my 52 book challenge with one of the very first books that made me truly love reading…stay tuned for book review #1!