We’ve had a horrible winter on the east coast this year. It’s been extremely cold for months, and I’ve never seen so much snow on my front lawn. I hate the cold. I grew up in Southern California and South Florida, and I don’t do the cold well. As a result, I’ve been spending a lot of time inside. I can’t write all of the time and I find it hard to read when I’m in the midst of writing, so I made a decision to try and “catch-up” on some shows I’ve wanted to watch. This has resulted in me binge-watching multiple TV series. Right now I’m knee-deep in Breaking Bad. If you haven’t watched it, you need to. I also just started Orange is the New Black (loving it) and I know when I’m done I’m going to have to start House of Cards because that’s the latest “it” show. And please, don’t even talk to me about Downtown Abbey!
A little indulging is totally okay!
Clearly I’m one of those people who get engrossed in a story and can’t stop watching until it’s over. My 25+ year commitment to All My Children proved that! Anyway, back to my bingeing, I realize I do it with books too.
I’m seriously one of the most on time, up-to-date people you’ll ever meet. However, in the cases of those shows and some book series, I was really late to the party. There are so many shows to watch, and so many books to read. It’s hard to keep up and when I think about what I haven’t read or watched, I honestly feel anxious. So, I try not to think about it. But, for the sake of this blog, I did think about what books I was guilty of obsessing over.
Here are a few of my most famous book-binge reads:
The Twilight Saga: I think I was years late with this trend. I wasn’t into vampires or anything paranormal when this came out. A friend kept bugging me to read it. So one day during the summer while at the pool with my kids, I started reading. I finished the whole series that week. If you’ve read the books, then you know how long they are. That was a major binge! On a side note, this whole saga (pun intended) turned me on to all things vampire, and as a result I ended up binge-watching four seasons of True Blood in two weeks. It’s a vicious cycle!
The Hunger Games: I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to see a movie before reading the book. The week before the movie came out, I jumped in head first, and read all three books. It was perfect because I didn’t need to ask my kids what the heck was going on. Plus, now I’m way ahead of the game as far as seeing the movies goes. It was a win-win for me.
Fifty Shades of Grey: I remember exactly where I was when I heard someone talk about 50 Shades for the first time. I was out to lunch with some friends for one of their birthdays, when someone started talking about this book. It was a hush-hush conversation because she didn’t really want anyone to know she was reading it. I was intrigued. I bought it that afternoon and I stayed up until 3 o’clock in the morning reading the first book. I did the same with the next two books and finished them all in four days. I was tired for a week, but it was worth it. After all, I did start writing in this genre a little over a year later.
When I connect with a story, I can’t stop. I loved the books Phillippa Gregory wrote about Henry the 8th, and plowed through all of them in a few months. I read all of Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series in a few weeks too. When I’m a fan, I’m a fan. I can’t even begin to list all of the romance novels that I’m sure I would binge on if I had time to read these days. Everyone, including me, is writing a series. In the romance genre there seems to be no more “one and done books.” I’m happy about this because there is NO way I would’ve been able to tell all of Alexa and Julian’s story in one book.
When it comes down to it, I obviously have way too much time on my hands, especially since I read really fast. Seriously, it really just means that when I am drawn into a story I have a very hard time backing away. I have no commitment issues either, so when I start something, I always finish.
Now that I have opened up to you about one of my dirty little secrets, I’m curious if you do them same thing. Are you a “book- binger?” If so, tell me what I’m missing. I just might be able to carve out a little time to start something new.
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