Reading

So I think I discovered something in the last day.

I always knew I had a.... compulsion when it came to books. When I was a kid my nickname was bookworm (really...) b/c I literally walked down the hallways w/ my nose planted in a book. They were my escape and my sanctuary from a world I just couldn't deal with in so many ways. And I've read just about every genre, except for bodice ripping romance novels - and then I read ONE just b/c I wanted to know what the hoopla was about. But since I'm not into porn and I prefer plot lines more than 2 lines deep I haven't read more. I've also largely given up really graphic horror - a la Stephen King's latest like "Desperation" and "Needful Things"(some of his old stuff is AWESOME) - b/c I've found it negatively impacts my spirituality.

But otherwise I'm pretty omnivorous and have since college discovered that I actually really love fantasy, a genre I'd largely stayed away from in high school and before, mostly b/c I was on a realistic fiction kick and partially b/c a lot of the other people that read fantasy were a smidgen.... intense for my tastes and since they tended to be into other things I didn't enjoy (like Anime) I assumed the same was true of their books.... Silly Mortal....

And by college I learned I had to limit my reading intake when classes were in session to only those books that my professors actually assigned me to read b/c otherwise I'd read whatever novel I was into and not do other things like.... eat, sleep, do my home work or even go to class. Yeah its bad.

And I always figured it was just b/c I was lazy, a bad person, weak willed, too curious (I HAVE TO KNOW what happens NEXT), etc. But last night and today I figured out something else - its not just my mind. This thing is a full body coup!

So last night at about 1 am as I was about to head to sleep b/c I was exhausted it occurred to me that one of my new favorite authors had a new book coming out sometime this summer and I couldn't remember the publication date. So like an idiot, I grabbed the iPad and looked it up.

Guess what?! It was released like 2 weeks ago! Sweet! So I quickly bought a Kindle copy so I could share with my sister (she got me hooked on this author by lending me the first several novels, so I've bought the last couple and shared them with her) and figured I'd read just a bit and head to sleep. I was exhausted after all, Caleb had swim lessons in the morning that we were not going to miss and I already knew who the main character was in this book, I just wanted a glimpse of the new heroine and I'd go to bed.

Silly mortal....

That was 1 am. And to really appreciate what I'm about to say - you need to understand that as much as I love to read - sleep is sacred. Sure I've stayed up nights before reading but not usually this bad and I've long since learned how much sleep my body has to get if I want to make it get up and move at all the next morning.

So when it got to be 5 am and I was still absolutely riveted and not at all sleepy, if on the physically exhausted side, and I knew I had to be up in less than 5 hours in order to get me and Caleb to swim lessons on time, so I made myself put the book down and try to crash out. It took me nearly an hour to quiet my minds obsessing over the novel to actually crash out.

Then comes the really surprising part - at 7:10 am my eye lids popped open of their own accord. I firmly told myself "No" and that I needed to get back to sleep and tried my hardest to crash back out. But my whole body was wide awake and demanding that I get back to reading that book. I tried to ignore it for about 45 mins before I gave up and realized I was only getting more awake not less so I got up and finished the novel by 10 when I was supposed to get up anyways. (We did make it to swim lessons on time and had a great time!)

My body. The one that loves sleep. The one that flat out will ignore every command I give it and do a pretty convincing dead fish impersonation if I try to push it beyond its limits and rob it of the sleep it requires woke me up after less than 2 hours of sleep so I could finish the book. Seriously.

And I haven't even felt like death warmed over today (I'll probably pay tomorrow...). I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon and woke up bright eyed and wanting to continue my re-reading of the book (I'm vexed b/c this is apparently Part 1 of 2 and Part 2 doesn't come out until Spring 2013!!!).

Holy crap no wonder I have a problem. My body is in on it! I used to depend on my body's obnoxious physical limits to keep me in reign but apparently no more.

I guess I have good instincts b/c I've found myself limiting my reading now as a mother much the same way I did as a college student b/c otherwise I neglect my household when it comes to a compelling work of fiction. Now that I know my body is in on the action... I'm almost afraid.
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And in case your wondering what I'm reading - and you so cannot judge me by the covers, PLEASE don't judge me by the covers - in my defense I was reading Kindle versions w/ covers I didn't even look at until I was 3 books into the series and completely hooked - *ahem* - I'm reading the Cat and Bones books by Jeaniene Frost. The first one is "Halfway to the Grave" and if you read them please be aware you need to read the "side novels" in chronological order with the rest of the books b/c I didn't the first time and I was so confused by the jump between books 4 and 5 (when the first 2 side novels happen). The one I read last night is the latest side novel "Once Burned".

Also full disclosure - there is some language in these books but mostly there is a not insignificant portion of The Sex. I mean like by book 2 I was almost going, "Damn woman! I need a cigarette after that!" And since I'm not a big fan of a heavy focus on The Sex I would have stopped if my sister hadn't assured me that the rest of the Cat and Bones books get MUCH better in that department. Sure The Sex still happens but you don't need a chapter long play by play (you can skip it I promise, or not if thats your thing).

That said the author must have missed writing about The Sex b/c these side novels are a smidgen loaded, though to be honest after the third one its getting a smidgen repetitive so you can really skip it and not miss much. I just glance over it to make sure they don't say something important instead of the usual "Oh baby, oh baby".