A Frustrated Reader No More!!!

I have long been a frustrated reader. I always had mixed emotions about finishing a good book. While I couldn’t wait to get to the end of a story to find out what happened, I also hated finishing because I didn’t know what to read next. I’ve always loved going to the library and book stores, but I never knew where to start or what to pick. Over the years I’ve read “Gone With The Wind” at least three times, maybe four. My mother-in-law’s favorite author was Rosemund Pilcher. She gave "Coming Home" to me for Christmas one year, but I kept putting off reading it. The longer I put it off, the more often my mother-in-law asked if I had read it. Just so I could tell her “yes, I’ve read it now please quit asking!”, I finally read it. I’ve been eating a healthy dose of crow ever since. It was a fabulous book, and I immediately started kicking myself for not reading it sooner. I have read two other Rosemund Pilcher books since—“The Shellseekers” & “Gemini”—but “Coming Home” was by far my favorite. Once I had read those, however, I was back in my old dilemma and didn’t know what to read next. Needless to say, I was a bit lost.

In the spring of 2006, my dearest friend came to me, shoved a book in my hands and said, “You MUST read this book!!!” Since my sweet friend doesn’t make recommendations lightly, I took her advice and read the book. It was the most amazing story I had ever read, unbelievably written with incredible depth and detail. It was absolutely breathtaking and left me speechless! The characters were so deep and true-to-life. I had never read anything like it! The book? Francine Rivers’ “Redeeming Love”. I very reluctantly returned the book to my friend and set out not just to buy my own copy, but to see if there were others like it. What I discovered was that not only had Francine Rivers written several other books, but there were a lot of other Christian fiction authors out there, telling deliciously romantic stories with God at the center. I thought I had died and gone to heaven…or at least the library.

Since that time, I have become a romance junkie. I have found author websites and blogs that I devour on a daily basis. (I found out that many authors put the first chapter of their books on their websites so you can “sample their wares”.) I have an ever-expanding library of paperbacks that I have read, re-read, and re-read again, as well as shared with friends. I was doing a pretty good job keeping track of who has what book in my head, but finally had so many of my books loaned out I had to put all my books on an Excel spreadsheet so I didn’t lose track! (Call me obsessive…I'm flattered!) In addition to finding established authors like Francine Rivers, I’ve also discovered some wonderful new authors, too. Next time I will tell you about some of my favorite authors.