One of those issues is OCD. I have me a serious case of the obsessive compulsive disorder.

When I start something and enjoy it, I have to immerse myself in it completely and find every part of it and make it part of me. Case in point: Trueblood.

In June I was looking for something to watch on Netflix. I’d heard a bit of buzz about the HBO series Trueblood and figured what the heck? I received the first three DVDs the next day. I watched the first episode, laughed hysterically, then thought, “No. I cannot allow myself to be sucked into this madness! It is embarrassing to even admit that I like this.”

It’s campy. There’s a lot of gratuitous sex. (Hey, I’m not prudish in any way, but really, Season 1 of Trueblood has more sex than I’ve seen in TV or my own life in two years. Just sayin’.) But even the sex is funny (one character is known for his sexual prowess and routinely checks himself out in the mirror during the deed). And, honestly, I could not look away. I became absorbed with these characters and watched the full season in short order.

When I told people I what I was doing and how absorbed I was, I laughed uncomfortably and uncontrollably. I turned bright red from my ears to my toes. My embarrassment at not being able to stop was utter and complete.

Trueblood is based on the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. Once I’d finished watching the series, the next logical step was to buy the first book, Dead Until Dark, just to see how it compared to the DVDs. I read it in seven hours. I returned to Borders every day (sometimes twice a day) for a week buying one book at a time, lying to myself that if I only bought one at a time, I was pacing myself and it wasn’t the OCD talking.

Then Amazon.com sent me an e-mail that Trueblood, Season 1 was on sale for $30. I bought it. I’ve watched it more than five times, thankyouverymuch.

I have every Sookie Stackhouse novel. I’m in the process of re-reading them all (I’m on book four again), thankyouverymuch.

Trueblood, Season 2 is in full swing, but I hadn’t watched it. I had reigned in my obsession. My issue. My addiction. Mostly because I didn’t have HBO and I couldn’t find any downloadable episodes online (and don’t think I didn’t spend several hours trying to find them, illegal though it may be). (What I did find, though, is that Vampire Bill & Sookie are dating in real life. Which makes me happy. Which also goes to show just how far I’ve gone into the deep. Comic-Con, here I come!)

I bought HBO Friday. I watched seven episodes (one hour each) in one day (mostly after 9:00p; yes it was a long night).

My name is Melanie. I’m a Trueblood and Sookie Stackhouse addict. It’s my dirtiest, guiltiest pleasure.

His Dark Materials

If you’ve read these books, I’d be interested in your thoughts. There is so much to discuss!

• How is Dust different from the Ancient One?
• Did Metatron betray the Ancient One?
• Is that better or worse than Asriel betraying him? Why?
• When the Ancient One dies, which side is responsible?
• Why would the church want to rid the universes of Dust?
• How do you see Dust in our world today?
• Is Mrs. Coulter ever redeemed?
• Do you think she is better or worse than Lord Asriel in her character and actions? Why?
• And, of course, if you had a daemon, what would yours be and why?

The questions and the discussion this book generates just lead to even more questions and discussion. Any book that makes me think like this one has is a book I can unquestionably recommend.

Then, if that’s not enough, how about some endpapers to make you drool?

I recently spoke with a junior who was stressed about her decreasing
ability to focus on anything for longer than two minutes or so. I tried
to inspire her by talking about the importance of reading as a way to
train the brain. I told her that a good reader develops the same powers
of concentration that an athlete or a Buddhist would employ in sport or
meditation. "A lot out there is conspiring to distract you," I said.

She
rolled her eyes. "That’s your opinion about books. It doesn’t make it
true." To her, the idea that reading might benefit the mind was, well,
lame.

Still, I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet. I’m turning the
new-arrivals shelf into a main attraction in my school’s library.
Recently I stood Charles Dickens’s "Bleak House" next to the DVD
version produced by the BBC. Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson) graced
both covers. A senior fingered the DVD for a minute, then turned it
over to read the blurb. "The book is too long," she said. "Is the movie
any better?"

"You’re right. The book is long," I said. "But once
you start this one, you won’t be able to put it down, right from that
first page about the London fog."

"I think I’ll watch the DVD," the student said.

Then I read this:

According to some cultural observers, "book" is becoming a substitute for "cool" thanks to the pervasive influence of text messaging.

As some of you are no doubt aware, when the "T9" predictive text
function is activated your cell phone will try to guess the word you’re
typing as you key it in on those frustrating number keypads. As it
turns out, when you try to type in "cool" – that is, 2-6-6-5 – phones
will, by default, suggest "book," and, according to some,
the kids are running with it, and "book" has become another word for
"cool." So, all you teachers out there, your work is officially done.
Books are now cool, literally.

Books aren’t cool. Yes, they’re book! What? No, wait. They’re not book, they’re books.

Oh, forget it. I guess I’m too old to understand why anyone would ever not want to read a book–whether it was book or not.

• The best book you read this Fall: Jewel by Brett Lott. The writing was really the draw for this book. The story was also interesting, but the writing was just entrancing. I had just finished reading a similar story (The Memory Keeper’s Daughter) that was just horribly written. Mr. Lott brought this story alive. Thanks to Shannon for suggesting we read it together.

I also enjoyed reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo to my kids. It’s a great read-aloud with very short chapters. My kids were begging for "just one more!" every night. We haven’t started another read-aloud and we should. Perhaps DiCamillo’s The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

• The book you could have lived without: My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Piccoult. I felt it was disjointed and contrived. One of my commenters mentioned she thought the ending was a cop-out and I totally agree. I involuntarily cried at the ending, but I really didn’t feel terribly invested in the characters–it was just a horrible situation and the ending was a slap in the face.

• Did you read more than you would have without the challenge?: I don’t think so. I have been part of a monthly book club for the last eight years and I just quit in September. I didn’t miss my reading group, but was already used to reading at least one book a month. I have really enjoyed just reading the books I want to read and my list just keeps growing!

• The best thing about joining in the challenge: I think the Reading Challenge encouraged me to keep my list on my blog
  and make me accountable. There is something about seeing that list every day and knowing other people can see whether you’re reading or not. At the end of the day, though, I’m a
  reader and I’m going to read. I’m not a fast reader, unfortunately, and
  my book lists and goals far outweigh my time.

• Did you discover (and enjoy) a new book or author after reading someone else’s list?: Yes. Many people read my reading list and suggested I add The Time Traveler’s Wife to it. I did and I’m so glad. I actually went into the book deciding to hate it because so many people loved it! How contrary is that? But I loved it. I thought it was terribly intriguing and I had such respect for the author because just writing a novel like that would take incredible organizational skillz and I bow to that.

• Any other insights, enjoyments, thoughts, or impressions: My list is nowhere near complete–meaning I have not read all the books on my list. I knew when I started I had been ridiculously ambitious. However, I am still motivated to read the books listed on my sidebar and just because the challenge has ended, I don’t think I’ll take my list down. In fact, I’ve added books to it.

I joined Paperback Book Swap (PBS) this summer, but only recently started participating. It’s an amazing community where you post the books you are willing to send out and you earn credits. You use these credits to "buy" other books. The bottom line is this: You only pay to ship your books. If someone asks for you to send them a book YOU pay to ship it. When you have a book credit, you can ask for someone’s book and THEY pay to ship it to you. That’s it. No strings. With media mail that’s about $2.50 tops (if it’s a heavy book).

If you use the link above or the link on my sidebar, they’ll know I sent you and I’ll get a book credit once you get set up and list nine books (everyone has to list nine books to get their first three credits).

I’ve sent out two books and I’ve already received one. I have five
others coming. These books are in excellent condition and they’re free.
All of the books are from my reading list over there on my sidebar. I almost think it’s better than the library because I get to keep the book as long as I want or re-list it on PBS. The only problem is that i L-O-V-E the library (which is an entirely different post).

Count me in for the Spring Challenge, Katrina!

I started My Sister’s Keeper a few days ago. I can’t say whether I would have the same reaction to this book if I had read it before Jewel. You see, when you read something like Jewel or East of Eden whatever you read next just cannot hold up: The writing cannot be as good, the story will seem flat. That is how I feel about My Sister’s Keeper. I’m actually interested in the story, but I find the writing is choppy and the chapters told by various characters is distracting. I’m reading this book quickly and I find that’s OK because I don’t have to invest much in these characters for them to tell their stories.

What do you think? Have you ever read a book that’s just so good, then tried to read a book right after it and found it was sort of meh? Do you think you would have had that same opinion had you read the second book first?

Update: I have finished My Sister’s Keeper. It’s really, really sad. Just so you know.

My list (in no particular order):

• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (reading to the kiddos)
• Jewel by Bret Lott (reading with Shannon)
• City of God by E.L. Doctorow
• The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
• The Geographer’s Library by Jon Fasman
• My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
• We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
• The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
• The Ruins by Scott Smith
• Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow

For me, that is an incredibly ambitious list. That list works out to about three books per month. Of course, I also have six pages of a Word document filled with other books I’d like to read too… For some reason that made me think of this movie quote:

Tyrone, you know how I love watching you work, but I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I’m swamped.

What’s on your list?

This summer, though, I thought I’d step out of my comfort zone and try a few books from the bestseller lists–something I usually avoid like the plague. My biggest problem with bestsellers is that I feel they have been dumbed down for the masses as if we can’t hold a real thought for more than two seconds.

Of the six books I read this summer (a woefully inadequate number), some were for book club and some were just random books I picked up from Borders. Only two were not sucktastic. Only two were worth buying, keeping, recommending, and re-reading: The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

• The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardener: This book is interesting enough, but isn’t a real challenge. Those of you who like a paperback pool book or something you can keep in the car and pick up for those 10-minute waits here and there, this is your book. The premise is that a family’s daughter is abducted. A few years later a girl about their daughter’s age is abandoned at the hospital where the dad is a doctor. They adopt this girl to replace their daughter. Is this adoptive daughter the daughter of the man that abducted and murdered their original daughter?
• The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay: This is a book that can be discussed on several levels. What exactly is the power of one? Is it the influence of one person on another? Is it the impact of a single event? Is it the power of one person over his own destiny? We meet PK when he is only five years old and is sent to school. From there we watch him as he grows, learns, matures, and trains to become the best boxer in the world. The memoir of his life in WWII Africa is engrossing. Don’t miss this one.
• Whiteout by Ken Follett: I picked this up on the $5 rack at Borders. I have only read one other Ken Follet book and that was The Pillars of the Earth. Pillars is one of the best epic, historical fiction novels I’ve ever read and I highly recommend it. It’s also very different than Whiteout. In Whiteout, Follett tackles bio-terrorism. Toni Gallo is the security head at a pharmaceutical company who finds that some very important and deadly chemicals are missing. Throw in a Christmas snowstorm, a romance with her boss, and some nasty villains and you’ve got yourself a story. The thing that saves this book is Follett’s writing. He doesn’t belabor the point and he moves things along just fast enough to keep you interested. I could have done without the contrived love interests, but I suppose those are an integral part of any bestseller these days. I’d recommend it if you have a plane ride in your future.
• Deception Point by Dan Brown: I have had this on my list of books I could read for a while now. I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons for what they were and thought I might enjoy one of his earlier novels as well. This is another pool book (in fact, that is where I read this one). It is not a great pool book, but it will do. This is supposed to be a thriller you just can’t put down. The book is about NASA finding a meteorite with fossils that prove there is life in other parts of the universe. Various agencies are brought in to authenticate the find. Here’s where I started having problems–not with whether there’s life "out there", but with the fact that the entire plot could have been avoided if a major character had just done her job (which I kept saying to myself as soon as she failed to do so). That little tid-bit made it hard for me to relax and enjoy the book; I just couldn’t buy that the best in her field would make such a rookie mistake. And again with the contrived love thing. Can we please have a strong woman without her needing to eventually fall into the arms of a man? Love is grand. I love LOVE. But not when it’s not a part of the story. Gah! If I’m reading a love story? Great. This was not a love story.
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: Anyone who actually knows me knows I love me some Steinbeck. Although East of Eden is still my favorite, Grapes of Wrath was still a masterpiece. Although I have lived in Oklahoma since I was three, I had never read this book. My friends, it is powerful. The Joad family is representative of every family in America that had to move to find a better life for themselves in the 20s and 30s. Each family member emerges from the journey changed and with new purpose. The discussion for this book is boundless: are we all part of one "big soul" or are we solely responsible for ourselves? How does nature function (good or evil)? How does one lose his connection with the earth/land/humanity as he lives for himself alone? I highly recommend this book to everyone. Steinbeck’s writing is laced with symbolism, but it does not impede your reading. The story is just as wonderful to read without worrying about the deeper meaning. If you choose to delve deeper, though, you will never find a shortage of things to consider and you won’t be disappointed.
• The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards: I do realize this book is popular right now. That may be one of the reasons I hated it so much. I thought the writing was mediocre and the story was boring. It had the potential to be interesting, but Edwards just didn’t have the talent to bring it alive. I found myself skimming the paragraphs to discern the gist of the page and moving on. I won’t give anything away, but about two-thirds of the way through a few things happen abruptly. My first reaction was that Edwards started to bore even herself and this was the only way to get the end started. The book is about a doctor and his wife who have twins. One of the twins is born with Downs and, it being the 50s, the doctor orders the nurse to take the baby away to a home. The doctor tells his wife the baby was still-born. They raise the other twin. The nurse, instead of taking the child to the home, decides to move and raise the child as her own. You can see how this all raises many problems and how it could have been a riveting read. Unfortunately this book is one of the worst I’ve read and I cannot recommend it. I only read the entire thing because it is one of our book club books and is being hosted by a friend of mine next month. What I can recommend is walking the other way if you see it in the book store. Of all the books I read this summer, this was the most sucktastic.