Becoming A Bookworm

So to preface this and subsequent posts, I would like to say that I was not an avid reader growing up.  I am a creative and active person and when I was younger the thought of sitting for hours at a time devouring a book just seemed torturous to me.  I loved and still love to draw, color, sing, have long and thought provoking talks with people.  I love being outside, playing with kids, getting dirt under my fingernails, cooking, playing pretend (which turned into a love of theater), and generally doing everything that the right side of my brain could think of.  Those things were always what kept me most entertained and interested.  Lately, however, I had been wanting to start expanding my horizons.  I had all of those things that I loved but now it was time to add something else to the list of hobbies and interests.  So I began to read and I am finding that I am loving it!  So each week for as long as I have time I want to post my thoughts on books that I am reading.  Depending on the book, I am averaging about a book a week.  I think this will also keep me going on this and it might expand into something entertaining for us both!  So here we go!

 

Book 1

Now to begin this, I must say that I consider myself quite knowledgeable about the story of Jane Eyre.  I have seen the movie that just came out in this year; I have seen the musical performed live; I own the soundtrack and now I have read the book.  I must say that this is by far my favorite fictional narrative I have ever come across.  This book is haunting to say the least.  

Let me say that I am not your average girl in that I get warm and fuzzy toward stories of couples seeing each other across a crowded room and just knowing deep in their hearts that they have found their soul mate.  I do not believe that you can fall in love in an instant or that you can know you will marry someone just by locking eyes with a stranger across a crowded room.  I am sorry if you would like that to be your story or if you think that is your story.  I would have to disagree with you on that one but that is another argument for another day.  

My ilk leans far more to the realistic stories, ones that are not all sunshine and roses.  Life is crazy and not always pretty and when it comes to love stories there is a vast lack of realism in most.  Jane Eyre's love story is a messy, messy story.  There are hard decisions made.  There is actual love lost.  There is unyielding commitment.  There are morals and values.  That is what I love so much about it.  I can sympathize with Jane in tough decisions she had to make.  I can respect her for enduring the heartache that she felt in standing firm in those decisions.  And I can see and admire the beauty in her respect of herself and of the man she grows to and learns how to love over time and whom she chooses to love and stand beside come what may.  I am not going to spoil anything for you in this post so don't worry.  But there is no fairy tale in this book.  But there is love and loss; there is redemption and hope.  Even though Jane Eyre is a fictional book filled with fictional characters I have a lot of respect for many of them and especially for Charlotte Bronte in writing such interesting and deep characters.  Bronte gave Jane, specifically, a very carefully weaved and dynamic soul that is almost palpable. I walked away from the book feeling incredibly attached to Jane.  I felt like I had watched a dear friends life play out before my eyes and I was almost grieved to see it end.  It is definitely a book that I will be reading over and over again.  

So put on some cozy cloths. Get a cup of hot chocolate and snuggle up for a riveting story of a girl, most peculiar.  Happy reading! 

TTFN~

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