Media Mayhem

I realize that I've neglected books. Sad, because I like books. And I've been reading a great number of books, as a matter of fact. Because, for my birthday, I invested in a Kindle. (Between that, and my new KitchenAid mixer, it was a pretty great, and wholesome, 21st birthday.)

My first classic down is Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White. It was a surprisingly frustrating mystery, leaving me tense right to the epilogue. Of course, that might have been the long car ride in 95 degree weather. Still, it was good. Now I've started a book I've been meaning to read since 11th grade: Les Miserables. I know it's going to be a challenge, but it's becoming kind of a tradition.

I've also taken advantage of low-priced books to read some Young Adult books I missed out on when I was, well, a young adult. I read The Hunger Games and the first book of the Artemis Fowl series, and I thought they were both fantastic. I'm kind of jealous that they weren't around when I was in need of books like that. Then I remember that I had (and still have) Harry Potter, Redwall, and His Dark Materials. (Still, it would've been nice to have all of them.) I also read Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones. I probably shouldn't admit this, considering my Japanese minor, but I've never seen Hayao Miyazaki's film version of it. But now I want to. Badly.

Reading those books has also kept me in the world I love so much. Sci-fi/Fantasy isn't the most lauded of genres. In fact, beyond a selected few authors, it's pretty much derided. But I love fantasy. My nose has been buried in fantasy novels since one of my best friends in middle school introduced me to David Eddings' Belgariad series. (Thanks Sam!) From Eddings, it was a downward spiral from infatuation to a long-term relationship. And, thanks to my recent focus on more "literary" fare, it's also been a long-distance relationship. I'd almost forgotten that first love, even though it's what I write.

It had to stop. At first, it was a drive to be grounded in the foundational fantasy, to read the authors that created the cliches. I felt that it was necessary to be familiar with those works in order to be a better writer. I know. Sounds like fun. I still think it's a good idea, but I really need to stop intellectualizing it. Because, in the end, I'm pretty sure it's an excuse to read fantasy, when I really don't need one. Maybe I rationalize things out of habit.

And after reading Artemis Fowl and Howl's Moving Castle, I remembered how fun reading is. I only get to read for fun in the summer, and I plan on making the most of this one.