Great Reads

Maren and I need to talk. She has given me a number of books for my Birthday, Christmas, and various other reasons, but there is always a central theme to them; First, they are all youth literature books and Second, they all make me bawl like a baby. Knowing this, I resisted reading "Milkweed" for about 3years (sorry Mrn), after "Star Girl" and "Out of the Dust" both favorites of mine, I knew that I had to be emotionally stable to start reading this most recent installment. So since I am on Clomid and an emotional mess anyway I decided to read the book. Am I going nuts? No seriously, having spent oodles of hours on planes and in airports I was able to tear through 3 great books without interruption. The first was the "Alchemist" a popular book in my ward right now. It was wonderful, inspiring, and paralleled a lot of my own feelings and philosophies about life. I Highly recomend it. The second was Bram Stokers "Dracula" one that I have always wanted to read, but haven't taken the time to do so. Like most classics, you have to be very patient while reading this 1897 masterpiece. I decided with all of the recent "Twilight" and vampire hoopla, that I would compare and contrast the original concept and beliefs of vampires with this new contemporary image created by Stephenie Meyer. It was fun to see the similarities that she decided to keep and how she decided to make them different. It's worth the time and patience. The last was "Milkweed" this will be for those of you who love the WWII literature. It is enlightening and devastating. The writing is brilliant as the story is told by a young child who literally has no idea who he is. Certainly worth the very quick read and tears. Call me crazy, but I always imagine myself in each story that I read. It wasn't until I was in my early twenties as a college student that I really developed a passion for reading. Now I can't seem to stand going to bed until I have stayed up way too late in the night escaping to a time, place, or land that someone else has created for me. For those of you non-readers out there, I strongly recomend Youth Literature. I personally think that if you don't love to read it is because you haven't found the kind of literature you enjoy. I love classics, youth literature, and murder mysteries. Maren, let's think happy thoughts for the next selection. I am not sure how many times I can experience devastation and love (I always feel way too deeply for the characters) in my life before I become a complete mess. Do you know of a good Star Trek book or anything? Come on you're killing me. No seriously, I love all the books you have given me and I thank you for fueling my night time addiction.