Confessions of a bookworm

My name is Julie, and I'm a total bookworm. I love, love, LOVE to read. Love it. I've always been a big reader. I have very fond memories of weekly summertime trips to the public library. My mom would take my brother and me while my dad was at work, and we'd leave with stacks and stacks of books. We had a family "reading time" fairly often, where we'd all pile onto my parents' big bed and read...something. Anything. I guess you could say I come by it honest.

I still visit the public library fairly often, weekly in the summertime. I have no interest in buying an e-reader, because I love holding a real book in my hands. I'm too frugal (read: cheap) to buy books very often, so the library it is. I'm a large fan of the library, and judging by the perpetually full parking lot, I'm not the only one.

This week, I've been reading Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld.

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I'd seen this book brough up several times recently, so I decided to check it out. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I worried that, since the characters are teenagers, the book would be written for teenagers. Thankfully, that's not the case. The plot centers around a middle class, Midwestern girl beginning her freshman year on scholarship at a Northeastern boarding school. The story follows her through her painfully awkward first year, all the way to the end of her senior year. I didn't need to worry about not liking it; it only took a few chapters until I was riveted by the story. I literally couldn't wait to "follow" Lee through her years at Ault, to see if she was ever going to find a way to fit in.

I identified so much with Lee's feelings as she very first started at Ault. I spent most of my senior year of high school fantasizing about my new life at Auburn. I spent all of the summer after graduation preparing to move away and start college. I finally arrived in August and...instantly wanted to go home. I knew 5 people out of 20,000+. I missed my family. I didn't know my way around town. I didn't know yet what was "cool" and what wasn't. I assumed that all freshmen would be as green to the ways of college as I was, and I quickly learned that was not the case. It took a few weeks, but I found my place at Auburn and ended up having the time of my life. Reading Prep made me feel a bit wistful, but mostly it made me smile, glad that I was able to get things figured out with a lot less turmoil than Lee.

I started The Help by Kathryn Stockett this evening, and I've read 112 pages so far. I already don't want it to end.

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It's incredible and I really don't want to stop, but my droopy eyelids are forcing me. I've heard oodles of great reviews, and I'm excited to be able to add mine when I finish it.

What about you? Are you a reader?

It's nearly midnight on a Friday night, and I stayed in reading a book. And I'm okay with that.