Wendy is our first outside Book Challenge taker! She grew up in Northern California and currently lives in Utah with her husband, where she enjoys hiking, rock hounding, playing the piano, and being a surrogate aunt to her friend’s children. She served a mission in Arizona and New Mexico, and earned a Masters Degree in Social Work. She recently resigned from a career as an LCSW and hopes her next career move includes the title, “Mommy.”

Come. Take a journey with me. Well, at least indulge me by reading about my journey. In accepting Maralise’s reading challenge, I found myself embarking on an adventure through time and across nations. My quest? To see if I could really enjoy reading again (I somehow lost that passion years ago). The results? Successful and fascinating! I loved reading! Understatement. It was wonderful.

While I don’t have one specific quote to elaborate on, I do want to write about some of the things I learned on this little expedition. When I am done, I am hoping that you will share things you have learned in your own reading efforts.

My journey began by becoming thoroughly involved with the fictional characters in The Portrait of a Lady, catching glimpses of England and parts of Europe in the 1800’s. I then wondered about the follies of man with Blaise Pascal, France, mid-1600’s. Next, I took a brief peek at Cleopatra’s life and conquests shortly before Christ was born (via Wikipedia and other sites). And finally, I entered an intriguing world where vampires exist (Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer).

What a vacation this was, pushing aside far too many of my daily responsibilities, reading anywhere from two to six or more hours a day! (Readers, breathe: I have no kids or job to neglect. Dishes, on the other hand . . . )

James Henry’s The Portrait of a Lady taught me that I love this period’s writing style. Surprising, since I haven’t really enjoyed most of our book club books since joining two years ago (and really, we do pick good books). I opened Portrait, began reading, and the words moved me, lifted me, and excited my mind. I found myself not wanting to miss a single detail, captivated by lengthy descriptions, and loving reading big words I needed a dictionary to understand. I haven’t felt that for eons. It was fabulous. I need more of this type of book!

Reading The Mind on Fire: An Anthology of the Writing of Blaise Pascal, I learned that I have changed . . . for the better. I bought the book in college, 1993, and remember finding Pascal’s opinions on the state of mankind to be perceptive and enlightened–I was fascinated. As I read it this time, I saw how cynical and pessimistic his views were. Though having some astute observations, Pascal condemns man for their vanity and he leaves little room for happiness or enjoyment. I took note that it’s not my comprehension of what he wrote that changed, but that my perspective on life has grown: I am less uptight (read “less judgmental”), more able to see the good in people and enjoy life. To further explain, when I first liked the book, more than enjoying life itself, I enjoyed feeling like I was on a lofty moral high ground, if that makes sense. At any rate, I never finished the book because it was simply too negative to want to put my energies into it. I felt grateful to see such a positive change in myself. I hadn’t quite recognized it for what it was before this.

A quote by Pascal about Cleopatra’s nose led me to read up on her, trying to find out what was so significant about her nose that, “had it been shorter, the whole face of the earth might have been different.” I’m embarrassed to admit that though her life was interesting, I found myself mostly bored reading about her. I found an explanation of the quote that didn’t fit the context. I learned about her marriages (including marrying two brothers). I think I realized why I got a D in my college History class. Ho Hum. I was surprise to discover that I prefer historical fiction over straight history. I never thought that would be the case in my Pascal-loving days.

And finally, from Twilight, I learned a few things:

1) I like characters that make good moral decisions (I’ll leave it at that, in case anybody hasn’t read the book yet)

2) I can entirely lose myself in an imaginary world and love. every. minute. of it.

And 3) I’m a hopeless prude! I was absolutely annoyed at the intense sensuality in the teenage relationship. Yes, I know teens see and hear and read and do much more than was in that book (there was no “inappropriate touching”). But for goodness’ sake! How essential was it to the plot? Hm. Even so, I was delighted to find myself devouring this book, barely able to put it down, thinking about it when I was away from it, feeling obsessed with the characters and plot. It took me a day. Over 500 pages in a day? Unheard of for me.

So now it’s been a couple of weeks. I’ve read one book since then. I haven’t caught up on the dishes or laundry or bedroom. I’ve looked at my schedule and tried to see where I can fit reading in on a more consistent basis. Many thanks to Maralise and the timing of her reading challenge. I am really excited to be able to say I love reading again!! I like what I learned about myself. I liked learning about myself through books. I loved losing myself in books, and by so doing, discovering even more of myself. I look forward to more reading and learning and to more sheer enjoyment of the written word. And now I want to know . . . what about you?