Turning a New Page...Literally

The unthinkable has happened. During my hour-long lunch breaks, I find myself wanting to grab a quick bite of whatever food craving I have that day, and then rush back to the office so I can munch away while I...(gasp) read a good book. What's that you say? That Jenny Jones girl don't read?! Weeeeell, that's true...I've never been a reader since middle school and can probably count the "grown-up" books I've successfully read on one hand, even though as a kid, I loved to read! I couldn't get enough of the Goosebumps books, and my favorite book had to be James and the Giant Peach.

Now let's flash forward to twenty-twelve (skipping past the Twilight series I read a few years ago that were ravenously eaten up in about a week....there's 4 books down!), why my sudden change of heart for literature? Well, my bestie could partially be to blame ever since she left me lunch-dateless everyday because of her diet she's doing (what motivation I lack to follow!)...and it could also be because I haven't found anything on the Internet worth keeping my interest for my lunch hour once I've already hit up Twitter and Pinterest in 5 seconds...or it could also be that I think our bookshelf at home is barren and needs some spiffing up with some snazzy books so that when people come over they will think we're well-educated and literate. (Jake begs to differ that proudly displaying the Twilight for all to see reflects either of those.)

Anywhoo, my recent book adventures began with giving the Harry Potter series a whirl ever since watching the last movie in theaters because I loved that it tied all the previous movies together. Way to wrap it up, J.K. Rowling! I borrowed the books from said skinny bestie and made it through book two. Then, instead of moving on to book three last month, I decided to jump ships for a bit so I could read Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony, which I bought myself for Christmas. Ooh, my dear friends, I could do such a lengthy blog post venting about that whole flop-of-court-case, and this book (which I probably read in 4 sittings...well, more like stomach-lyings) was just another slice of Casey-hater pie that feeds my obsession, and I loved choking it down...and want to choke her!

But, moving along...during the time I was reading that book, Jake and I went and saw The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in theaters with some friends, and to sum it up...it was just badass! (Go figure since it was the same director who did Panic Room, Fight Club, and Se7en...all dark thrillers I enjoyed.)  After the movie, our friend mentioned he had enjoyed it because he'd read the book, so my thought was instantly, "Oh, so it's a book, eh?!"  My interest was sparked, and I dashed over to Barnes & Noble the following Monday, but alas, no hardcover copies in stock. I needed a book fix, and I needed it now! My backup choice was The Hunger Games, which I've only had a interest in because of the public hype and the upcoming movie, but I'll be honest...the plot sounds retarded. Eh. It's no Gladiator with Russell Crowe. I decided to order both The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Hunger Games anyway, and when my books arrived last Friday, I was beaming with joy! 

So, to wrap up my ranting here, my plan for 2012 is to read more books. I'm currently reading The Hunger Games and even though I'm only around page 80 (because it has not drawn me in to that can't-put-it-down mode yet), I am hopeful that it will be a good book, despite that I find the author's writing style somewhat irritating and an adjustment to read. At least the book will be a nice addition to my bookcase!