Wednesday 21 May 2008

Rainman????

My husband has a nickname for me...it's 'Rainman'...not Raingirl or Rainchic but Rainman...basically he thinks I'm a freak of nature...simply because I read...FAST! (in my head anyway).


Since I've been married I've found that I don't read alot of novels and if I do they are usually ones that I have read before...like works from Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, C.S Lewis or L.M.Montgomery. I found once I had kids I read books that I would learn something new from...I love learning something new... it was also because I know what I'm like when I read a novel...I have to keep reading...I need to know what happens...it's a yearning that's so strong that it takes me into the wee hours of the morning till I gain the satisfaction that comes from knowing the way it ends. Having to get up to children and feed them in the morning - basically getting up before 11am after a night like this doesn't necessarily produce the best in my 'mothering capabilities'. So I stopped reading new novels and stuck to the ones that I had read before and already knew the ending...it was safer that way.

And of course the staying up to the wee hours of the morning to read is FREAKISH behaviour for my husband...

1. He doesn't understand how I can read a whole 630 ish page novel in a 1 day...and

2. He doesn't understand how and why I just HAVE to know how it ends...like NOW!

So in the interest of helping him to understand his 'freak of a wife' I asked him how annoyed he would be if every 10 minutes or so into a movie he paused it and then went and did something else and left it for a few days/week before he actually got to watch the end of the movie...and IF he did would he enjoy it as much as sitting right through it??? Needless to say he got my point... (I still wouldn't mind trying it out on him sometime I think it would be quite entertaining to watch him wandering around aimlessly, looking lost and unable to cope as I do when I have to put my book down...)

So earlier this year I was feeling like I wanted some 'light' reading...something that I wouldn't necessarily have to read with the pressure of focusing and learning about what I was reading...something else...and I ventured to think to myself... Can I handle it??? Will I be ill-tempered at the kids the following day because I stayed up late reading? Will I still be able to cope putting dinner on the table, getting homework done and putting the kids to bed??? It was a big decision...It had literally been years since I had allowed myself the freedom...so I tried a short novel by Janet Evanovich. I enjoyed it. I stayed up late. I was extra mindful of being patient with the kids the following day...and I was genuinely surprised at myself that I was coping with the 'short-term' effects of reading a novel late into the night!

Now there was a series that I had been wanting to read...since the first book was released...I had had HEAPS friends in the States tell me I needed to read it...one of the girls I served my mission with knows the author...I kept putting it off...thinking I don't know if I can cope with reading an actual 'series'...the effects on our 'normal' family life will be MUCH MUCH worse than just a novel!

My friend that visited about a month ago from the States sparked the desire to read that particular series again... So I caved...and decided I'd read the first and I would pace myself over the rest of the series...I could do it...really I could...

I think I have officially crossed the line...I have become a TWILIGHTER!!!....

I started reading on Thursday night...I finished on Friday morning, promptly showered and drove down to get the next one


I started reading this one Friday afternoon and finished Saturday morning...promptly got dressed and drove down and got the next one


I had finished this one by Saturday night...

So much for the self-control!!!!

I'm happy to report that I just read 3 novels in the course of the weekend - that's 3 LATE nights and I was still able to get dinner on the table, housework done, play outside with the kids...AND finish and thorougly enjoy my series!

The funniest part of this was that my husband was getting slightly confused because one minute he thought it looked like I was at the end of my novel and the next minute I was only at the beginning - I guess he was trying to judge when he'd have his wife back - I left him in the dark until I was getting toward the end of the last one and then told him that this was the 3rd one...he promptly decided to remind me that I was a FREAK. I didn't mind in the slightest!

But he was also somewhat curious about the book since he has tried to get me to sit down and watch 'scary' movies so that I'll cling to him for dear life...I HATE scary movies or horror movies...so for me to be reading a VAMPIRE novel quite intrigued him...I think 'TWILIGHT' the movie will be officially the first maybe 'scary' movie that I will see with him...but since I know the ending it might not have quite the same effect as he is hoping!

The saddest part about all of this is that I'm wishing I had not caved in quite so soon...because now I have to wait till August 2nd before the final book BREAKING DAWN is released!!! The agony is acute!

AAAANNNNDDDD I have to wait till December the 12th before the movies TWILIGHT is released...!!!!

Can I live through that kind of torture???

15 comments:

Sarah Tilley said...

aaaaahhhhhahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!
yes, you are a freak!! i thought i was a psychotic reader, but you my friend have me beat by miles! if i had my way i would be on the couch all day reading, but alas guilt keeps me from doing so. ben hates it when i stay up t read (he says it's because he can't sleep when i'm not beside him, if you can believe it, which i don't). everyone keeps telling me to read the twilight stuff but i've been putting it off and reading other stuff because i think vampires are retarded and the last vampire movie i saw they were over the top emo. but everyone says they're really good. maybe if they are good i'd better wait until the last one comes out so i don't have to wait. because i hate waiting. i recently read last year eleven books in the "wheel of time" series and then the author died before he could write the last book. the nerve! "why did you waste time writing a stupid worthless prequel!" i shouted like a lunatic...
um, yeah.

Jeanney said...

I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!!!!
doesn't it suck that we have to wait until august!!! oh, check out www.stepheniemeyer.com she has some cool outtakes of the first 2 books and some cool pictures too. love ya perry.....and i LOVED your question to Mike. I'm the same way, I HAVE to know what's going to happen.....so yeah, don't turn the movie off in 15 minute intervals....HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

meagan said...

Happy anniversary! 7 years? time flies! You make me laugh about your reading obsession: I read the 1st Twighlight, and haven't yet got to the other two... maybe because I am concerned I'll get obsessed too, and unlike you, I am a slow reader, so it takes me way to much time to get thru a 600+ page book. Happy reading! xoxo.

Aaron said...

your reading experience of the series sounds a lot like mine except I was moving during the reading frenzy. you can read "deleted scenes" on her website if you are in the mood for continuing to feed the addiction in bits and pieces. ;)

Jacobson Five said...

SO while you wait for Breaking Dawn, you can go out and get The Host, her new book. This one is about Aliens, not Vampires, but still very good.
I am different about books, as much as I enjoy them, I want them to last. I just finished reading the Host and that took me 1 week to read the 600+ pages. But it is a page turner and you could probably read it in a day if you work real hard.

Mel Brown said...

Wow, I must read them. I'm not like you though, I CAN put a book down and go to sleep. I look forward to reading them!!! I've been searching for a good book to read.

NicholegCrosbie said...

I'm going to have to look into these books when i get a chance to get back into reading, i miss doing what you did....happened often before Jared was born....oh miss those days!

Carl and April said...

Wow, I did not know there were others who were as insane as I am. When reading the Harry Potter books with my husband it drove me crazy cause he would want to go to bed and I would have to stop. Of course once he was alsleep I would get the book out and read it through the night and then pretend to be suprised by the new developments the next day which never worked. My husband is as confused as yours. He likes that I get books on Audible and listen to them on my ipod, that way I am doing stuff all day while listening to them but I only like books I have already read that way. I am addicted to the Wheel of time series and read all the books really quickly and then while waiting for the final one to finish the author died. I was devistated, for him too but also I was distraught about the finale of the series. His wife has someone else finishing it now. If there are so many of us out there does that really make us freaks?

A kindred spirit,
April

Jen said...

*sigh* I am the same way. I love and am addicted to books. It drives my mom nuts. Especially now that I've got kids. So I've put it all aside for the time being. I think audio will be the next moving but I'm sure it won't be the same. Although it will be easier to multitask. I could handle things pretty well with a book in one hand, the vacuum in the other and music blaring in my ears. I love vampire series. The last one I read is by Laurell K Hamilton. It's very graphic so I had to put it aside. I'll definatly check out this Twilight series.

Kimberly Scott said...

OHHHHHHHHHh it is an obsession for sure!!! love those books...you have a great blog:)

love,
kb

Elizabeth said...

I have a similiar obsession. I must Must MUST know how it ends. Drives me almost batty to pick up a book and just let it sit there starring and me tempting me to find out what is happening and more importantly why! When my son is at his dad's house I regularly read an entire novel or two over the weekend he is gone. (also makes the time go by faster cause I miss that bug so bad when he is gone!). yeah for book obsession!

Sara said...

Sally -
I love those books - and feel EXACTLY the way you do about reading. (except I am a total zombie the next day, so no dinner on the table...:)
Does the last Meyer book get released in Aus the same date as here or do you need me to mail you a copy? :)

Hugs, Cankiel

meegz said...

I'm just wondering where you got your background? I LOVE it - I can't find anything simple like this? THANKS!!!
you could leave a comment on my blog or just leave it here, I'll check back.

meegz said...

THANKS -- I worked sooo hard yesterday trying to find a PLAIN template for honestly a LONG time. THEN, lightbulb! Sometimes it takes me a while.:) I found the HEX codes onilne and developed my own color. I got in bed(late) and told my husband how dumb I felt for even asking you about yours -- he got a GOOD laugh:) So do you mind if I "stalk" your blog now -- I LOVE it.:) Your Photos are amazing -- blogging has made me want to be a better photographer and buy some photo editing software. What do you use??

Sarah said...

Sam intentionally won't read a series until the final book is out so he can read them all in one go and avoid the frustration of waiting. I don't have the self control for that! Good on you though for staying up late reading and still being able to function the next day.