Reading Habits and On to Narnia

I'm not overly fond of the classics.  This is what led me to drop the English majoring.

I'd never read Narnia or Lord of the Rings (or past the first book, anyway), and yet I wanted to be a fantasy writer.

It always struck me as a little...well, not exactly hypocritical, but perhaps a little, well, as unpreparedness.  I always had the intention of reading them.  I always knew that someday, I would have to.  Because really, you can't be a fantasy writer unless LOTR or Narnia captured you so hard that you wanted to write fantasy for the rest of your life.

It's required reading, like Austen is for romance writers--or at least Regency romance writers, anyway.  Like H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King are for horror writers.  And Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley.

I got into the Dresden Files.  If you've never heard of it, it's like Harry Potter for adults.  I've never read Harry Potter (I wasn't allowed, although they ARE on my to-read list once I'm out from under my parents' roof), so I don't know the accuracy of the statement, but there you are.  I always said it was like Sookie Stackhouse for men--and women with better taste.  O.o.

Like everything else, I'm late to the game reading them.  There's 14 books out now, and 15, while I haven't seen cover art, has a title.  I started them earlier this year, and I'm pretty in love with them.  They're great stories.  I just finished book 8 yesterday.  I've been running around all week with school and work, and I had yesterday off.  I napped.  You work part time and go to school part time, and still manage your K a day and maintain reading habits....  It sucks being an adult.  I can't imagine what it must be like for people with kids.

...then I had a dream about people summoning up demons.  This happens fairly often in the Dresden Files, and I've been mainlining them, really.  And when I woke up, I was a little shaken.

Time to take a break.  So, I took a step back.  Okay, time to find something else to read for now.

I read The Magician's Nephew in June.  I picked up an omnibus edition of Narnia earlier this year, so I'm reading them in the order they're placed in the book.

I don't want to go back to reading romance, and I need a fantasy, and none of the fantasy books I have bookmarks in right now probably aren't going to help me...

So I pulled Narnia off my shelf.  I read about half of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe yesterday, and the other half this morning.

I've seen the movies, so I already had an idea of what was going to happen.  And, I think I felt this way when I finished The Magician's Nephew, I'm kind of glad I didn't read it as a child.

I didn't read much as a child anyway.  My childhood was pretty normal up until middle school.  I was an outside kid.  I ran and played and stank of the outside a lot.  I think it's the glasses.  Once you're dependent upon them completely (which I've been since 6th grade and still am to this day) the physical side really takes a lower spot on the priority list.  It's a little limiting. I began reading The Fellowship of the Ring in 6th grade and finished it sometime the following the summer.  I've been in The Two Towers ever since.

All that being said, I don't think I was ready to read Narnia as a child anyway.  I mean, I read Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde my freshman year of high school, and I barely remember it.  I remember liking it, but nothing really stuck with me about it.  One day, I'll re-read it.

Which is what I tell myself about most the books I read. 

So, yeah, like everything, I'm late to the Narnia reading game, but I'd rather read it late, and really appreciate it and remember it, than have read it years ago--like back in elementary school--and then not remember it as an adult.

And since I'm not certain I'm ready to go back to the Dresden Files just yet, I may take another Narnia book.