Books

I love books. I've always loved books. Even before I could read, having books read to me was my favorite activity. My mom said I would sit and listen for hours, which now that I'm a mom and have kids who have trouble sitting for more than two books in a row, I find amazing. Growing up my mom cursed me with the mom curse, "I hope one day you have kids just like you.", because I would read to the exclusion of all else. Chores, playing, eating, even occasionally sleeping all were second to reading a good book. Other kids might have daydreamed about living at an amusement park, or traveling with the circus, or, like this favorite children's book, living in a museum, but not me. I daydreamed about living in a library. Yep, I really am that nerdy. I had it all planned out, I'd collect change that fell from people's pockets and use it to buy food from the vending machines and sleep on the comfortable arm chairs each night. Ah, yes, it was a well thought out plan *sarcasm*.

Anyway, most people think this is odd, but I like to reread books, a lot. There is a reason for this though. The more I like a book, the faster I will read it, but if I read a book quickly I don't remember it very well. So, anywhere between a month to a year after reading something quickly I can read it again with almost the same enjoyment as the first time. And, after thinking about it I just have a really bad memory, because even after reading a book slowly or even several times if I then wait 5-10 years I will only have a vague idea of the plot and so I can enjoyably read it yet again. There is a series of books that I bought, read, then sold to half price books sure that I would not want to read it yet again and I think I've done that three times now for this same series. Yes, that is crazy.

I love being drawn into a book, being able to experience things I will never be exposed to in real life, learning about characters and their motivations, exploring new lands and worlds. I find it all fascinating. My favorite type of fiction is fantasy, but I like it all. Here are some of my favorites or at least the ones I can think of right now:

Regular Fiction

1.Welcome To The Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut is a collection of his short stories. I'm not a fan of short stories, but I'm a fan of his short stories. I also love Cat's Cradle and most of his other books too.

2.Catch-22, one of those "school" books that I read on my own and loved. Joseph Heller is a master of irony. One of the only war books I've ever liked.

3. Jane Austen, any of her books. I think my favorite is Persuasion, but Pride and Prejudice is a very close second.


Fantasy

1. The Belgariad series by David Eddings. I can't even tell you how many times I've read these books. They are my comfort food of books, when things aren't going right in my life I read these books.

2. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Only read these if you like to read A LOT. Every book is thick and there will be 14 books when it done. Jordan really knows his craft, he has the most fully realized fantasy world with likable characters I've ever read. I am currently rereading it for the 4th? time. I read it first when I was a young teenager and then I kept rereading them as new books in the series came out because the plot was so complex I had to remind myself what was happening to follow all the tiny details. Then I got really tired of him taking so long to write new books so I took an eight year break. Now, the end is truly in site. The last book will come out October 2011 and rereading them makes me remember why I liked them so much in the first place. The fourth book is when the series really gets good, I mean really really good.

3.Ok, this is embarrassing, but I'll fess up to it I am a closet Stephanie Myers fan. I am blushing in embarrassment right now. I do NOT like the movies, but I do like the twilight books. I don't really like the characters even, although I like Edward more now that I read Edward's version of the story in the unfinished book Midnight Sun. Anyway, it's not the characters that draw me and the story is only good, not great, but the books are just so,... so, gosh darn readable. I can't put them down and then I want to read them again, it's crazy. I liked The Host too. I did like the main character in that one and thought the story was better too. I'm not as embarrassed about liking The Host.

Nonfiction Finance

1. One of my favorite finance authors is David Bach. He has a book for everyone but they seriously overlap in advice so don't expect totally new information if you read more than one. I like Smart Couples Finish Rich and The Automatic Millionaire best.

2. I love The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind. They are just SUCH interesting books. They really make you understand the difference between living rich and being rich.

3. I recommend every couple read The Two Income Trap. It is a great book that explains why EVERYONE should have their fixed costs based on one income.

Cookbooks

1.The Joy of Cooking, apparently I need to get this new version. I have the 1997 version and still like it. I read it straight through when I was 17 and learned a TON about food in general along with how to cook it.

2. When I was a senior in high school I worked at a bookstore (shocking I know) and was in charge of special orders. That is where I was first introduced to Pam Anderson because someone ordered her cookbook, The Perfect Recipe. It was amazing, she goes through each recipe and tells you what she tried to make it perfect, what went wrong, what went right and how she ended up with the final recipe. So much information, so interesting, so AWESOME. I also have her How to Cook Without a Book and use it for all my stir fry and stir fry sauces, but it has lots of other great recipes too.

3. My interest in knowing WHY a recipe was good lead me to a love of the PBS cooking show America's Test Kitchen. They have a book of ALL their recipes and information about why they make them that way. I have yet to have a recipe from this book turn out bad.

I'd list other nonfiction, but I don't really read other nonfiction.

Kids Books

1. I'm a huge Dr. Seuss. I love The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham and The Sneetches. The rhyming is just so addicting.

2. The Monster at the End of This Book has got to be one of the funnest read aloud books ever. If you like a little drama you will love this book.

3. The Very Hungary Caterpillar is a classic I love. My favorite part has always been turning the little pages of food that he eats.

I love lots of other books too, but this post is WAY to long already. I'm sure I will talk about books again.