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Monday, April 04, 2005
trying to get back
I bought a book! I haven't bought myself a book in eons. For one thing, they've gotten mighty expensive. And well, recently I've just been riding on to other people's book budgets (aka borrowing).
We've actually developed quite a reading circle here in the P&G accounts room. It started with reminiscing about those Sweet Dreams pocketbooks... then how you move onto Nancy Drew... then you start increasing the page-threshold with romance novels by Judith McNaught - the (pre) teen girl's first encounter with you-know-what, outrageously and passionately detailed like a cookbook. Recounting the titles and authors, we decided to re-circulate those books for fun. It seems to me, that for us in the reading circle (and maybe for you), Judith McNaught and the likes of her was the default first step to novel reading. It's one thing you'd giggle over with your friends (or maybe not) or hide from your parents and especially the nuns at school. Because just the cover is enough to send you to the administrator's office. The infamous "Knight in Shining Armor" by Jude Deveraux was actually my first book that went beyond the 150-page mark. My older cousin lent it to me, and ignoring that passionate artwork, it seemed like a logical step-up since by 5th grade I had already read the entire Nancy Drew hardbound series and was halfway through the Case Files (plust the usual Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley). And then you read all these romance novels, cry your heart out, and wish for your own prince charming (plus or minus the ravaging lovemaking). And then there comes a time when you just outgrow it. By some reason, you just do. And you only revisit such readings in close confidence with trusted friends or co-workers (or with no one at all). Next in line, Anne Rice, Oscar Wilde, John Grisham... the Shopaholic series... Dan Brown (still to be borrowed). I fell in love with Anne Rice and her Mayfair Witches. Didn't really buy into the whole chick themes, it probably wasn't just my thing, even if it was about shopping. And oddly, didn't go into the Harry Potter phenomenon, even if it was about sorcery. I've had my share of seemingly good novels which turned out bad. Like "Killing me Softly" which was translated into a movie allegedly as dragging as my reading experience of the book. Okay. I've yammered. And the basic announcement was, that I bought a book. I'm proud of myself. Because really, I've missed reading. I miss the smell of the turning pages as they flutter near my nose. Anyway, the book is - The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. A murder mystery combining fiction and fact, surrounding the first english translation of Dante's Inferno. Ah, just my type. So there. I shall read. And you guys, revisit the romance novels. It will cause you much joy. Try making your boyfriend read it. He will think it's worse than porn and give you a weird look for even being exposed to such wordings (i.e. proud evidence of his desire) at such a tender age. 7 Comments:
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strapped in @ 
hahaha. those romance novels! i read two in a row (they came from the lib at your house) and am still marveling at how every man can be rugged with set square jaws. hahaha