#5

When I was a little girl (from about ages 0-16), my sister Elsie would read to me for hours on end. The most memorable books I remember were Uncle Tom's Cabin and one about a boy who suffered through major abuse from his father; both when I was between 12-14. I know there were many others but those stood out. Looking back, I don't know how she did it. I dread reading out loud; I'm terrible at it and despite having plenty of little bookworms in my family, manage to avoid it for the most part. But here she was, reading books to me until I was WAY past having learned to read. The books we read were varied but usually a little more serious than I might have chosen. However, they pushed me to read beyond my level, to sit still (probably the only time I did sit still in those days), and helped form the love of books I still have today. For many years, I would lament the fact that I would probably never get that again.

Scroll forward a few years and here I sit, gazing lovingly at my husband reading to me from book 8 of a very long series of very long books. It's still a little bit unbelievable to me that I've found a man who will read to me for hours on end while I drive (or play tetris). Take that traditional gender roles!

Pillars of Creation, book 7 of the Sword of Truth series, was quite good. Not as good as the previous one in the series, Faith of the Fallen, but much much better than some of the other duds before it. My respect for Terry Goodkind's writing didn't go up though. There was too much repetition, reminding the reader about something he'd mentioned two paragraphs before in the exact same words. There is only some many times you can be reminded that "her red hair frightened people" before it becomes mockable. But there were some new characters introduced that I am interested in seeing how they will develop and Richard finally has found a non-murderous, non-psychotic family member that he doesn't have to end up killing. How refreshing!