Sadly, only of a literary kind at the moment! But an adventure, none the less. I’ve been thinking a lot about my choice in books, movies, and other media that I choose to consume lately. It’s come up in several different counseling sessions and with friends and colleagues, so I figured it was probably something I should blog about.

This is also sparked by a recent trip to the library, where I think I spent at least an hour, if not a full 90 minutes wandering around book drunk. I ended up with a somewhat eclectic stack of reading materials and pretty much closed down the library. 😉

I was lucky that my parents encouraged reading and didn’t limit too much of what we chose to read. Every now and then, something would be suggested that we not read it yet, or my Mom would have a little chat with me on what I had been reading, but we really were allowed to ramble through all sorts of different literary worlds. Any time there was a new librarian, the head librarian would have to intercede at least once when they objected that my brothers and I had pulled books well above what they thought our reading level was. It’s making me chuckle now, but I remember being very annoyed about the delay in my being able to start reading immediately.

It helped that both my parents are big readers and we had family reading times pretty regularly. My dad is also a published author and a regular magazine column freelance writer. Occasionally, we were even allowed to have reading suppers, where everyone could bring a book and we didn’t have to talk. Although, now I’m suspicious that they really just wanted some peace and quiet…. Hmmm….

Both of my parents pushed us to actually think about what we were consuming media wise and that is a lesson I’ve learned once again after a stint of ridiculously trashy tv. I thought I’d share some of my favorite authors and categories. These are the ones I reach for most often, as they offer a complete escape from normal life. I find, the more I’m helping other people wade through their own messiness and trauma, the less I want to read/watch/listen to it. I need the balance of something peaceful, funny, or just out there wacky.

Today’s authors are in the fantasy and historical romance categories (otherwise known by me as semi-trashy romance.) Disclaimer: I don’t read really thin or plotless romance novels, nor do I read any of them where there is any sort or coercion or confusion about a character wanting to be in a romantic situation. I have been known to completely stop reading any of the author’s works if I come across any of that. Here are some of my favorite authors.

Stephanie Laurens and Diana Gabaldon are probably my favorite romance authors. Stephanie Laurens writes Regency era historical fiction and is a very prolific author. Occasionally some of her later books get pretty formulaic, but her main series about the Cynster Family is pretty good. She writes strong characters and they actually have flaws! That’s my favorite part of her books.

Diana Gabaldon is the author of the Outlander Series, which has been made into a TV shows on Stars. I don’t like the TV show as much. They focus a lot on the traumatic stuff and rush through the healing process and the rest of it. There’s a lot of… um.. intimate moments that are well done in the book, but can be a bit much on screen too. There’s also some sexual assaults. At least in the books, you have a bit more warning and can move past it. This would be one author that makes it clear these are assaults and NOT OK, not someone being gradually “talked into” things. She also deals with the trauma in a realistic way and is not as graphic as a couple other books that I ended up having to stop reading (Looking at you, Jay Green, and your suddenly violent with no warning scenes.) The story is told in a natural way and doesn’t do things for shock value. They are long books and involved time travel, Scotland, and WWII. I adore them. This one is the last one in the series, I believe.

Whenever I’m asked to name my one favorite book, I always laugh, because how in the world are you supposed to pick just one??!! I always start with Terry Prachett’s Tiffany Aching Series though, when forced to choose.

The series focuses on Tiffany Aching, who is 11 at the start of the saga. She is just beginning to find out who she is. There is magic in all of his Discworld series and these books focus specifically on witches, although I would argue that their “witchcraft” isn’t really that in the normal sense. Often times, it is simply common sense presented in a different way. But if you are concerned about that, it is something to think about.

They really are appropriate for all audiences though and contain just enough sly humor and really terrible puns that I can’t stop reading them. Forewarning, you will get super attached to characters and very invested in the books. I bawled like an absolute baby, during the last one, and texted my younger brother for emotional support. 🙂 Both my brothers also read Pratchett and I’m pretty sure it was my older brother who introduced me to them. My younger brother once stole my car keys and locked himself in my car with Wintersmith so that he could read it first. That’s how good of a series it is.

Next up is the classic fantasy stack, with a new addition.

You can’t go wrong with Grimm’s Brothers’ Fairy Tales (The bottom). This copy was my Grandma’s book and it’s really pretty inside. Mercedes Lackey has a lot of different series and I love pretty much all of them. She writes a lot of trilogies, which is handy. The two pictured here are from her Elemental Master’s series and her Collegium series.

The Elemental Masters are Victorian England loose retellings of fairy tales. Steadfast has a lot in common with the old fairy tale The Steadfast Tin Soldier. They deal with magic and the theory of elements- earth, wind, fire, and water. I really enjoy them as they do a really interesting job of turning well-known stories on their heads. Each book stands by itself, although some of the themes and characters come back. She writes in a very easy style and really wraps you up in her world.

Foundation is about a magical college and people called Heralds, who basically function as magical based judges/healers/bards, etc, who help keep the peace and solve problems. This series focuses on Mags, who, at the start of the series, is basically a child slave in a mine.

One of the unique things about this series, or really any of the Valdamar series, is the Companions, who appear to be very large, white horses, but as you find out, are much more than horses. They use telepathy to speak to their Heralds and others. There’s all sort sorts of drama, intrigue, and politics. Not enough that you can’t keep up though. She’s one of my authors that I am finally collecting, as I keep running through all the books the library has and getting frustrated when I can’t get the one I need. The book sales we went to last year were a big help in building my dragon hoard of books. I mean.. building my library.

The top book in that picture, called Pocket Apocalypse, is part of an urban fantasy series (Incryptid) about the Price family. They are monster hunters of a sort. They hunt cryptids- creatures that people think shouldn’t/don’t exist. The family is super likable and written pretty realistically for a fantasy novel. I have read some urban fantasy that I have not enjoyed, but these are great little reads. If I have enough time, I can get through these in a day, they move that fast. Sean McQuire is another prolific writer, so I have a bunch more in the series that I am excited to read. I’m allowing myself two at a time to space them out more. 🙂

I told a client recently that “if there’s no dragons, I’m not reading it,” and I think it’s due a lot to the stress of work. Not that I can’t handle it, but with work and everything else happening around the world, it’s nice to be able to relax with something that’s in a completely different time, place, or universe. I’ll show you some more of my favorites later. These were the ones that were close at hand tonight.

I’d love to hear what books you’ve been reading and enjoying lately too! I don’t think there’s ever a state of ”too many books.”

To sum up, I’ll leave you with this quote and bid you adieu.

“Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else’s head instead of with one’s own.” – Arthur Schopenhauer