Reading Quest

source: casheefoo.deviantart.com

The amount of English books offered in the deserts of Israel is staggeringly low. As you can probably guess, I am an avid reader who is constantly in search of new books to delve into. Obviously this dry spell of stories was a problem for me; a big problem.

My friend Amanda, who lived in my building, found a used copy of Game of Thrones (book one) and gave it to  me when she was finished. I remember when she handed it over, and I was like, no way in hell am I reading this. I think that novel may have sat on my shelf for a good month, taunting me with it's 1000 page long plot line before I actually gave it a chance.

Let me explain something to you. For the longest time, I was convinced that I could not read fantasy novels. Yes, I read Harry Potter and Charlie Bone and other magical children's stories, but once I reached the age where I found the majority of my reading list in the adult section, the fantasy genre grew neglected.

In fact, I realize now that I was nothing but a common book racist. I wouldn't read fantasy, science fiction, steam punk or anything else I considered "unworthy." The stories I loved most were either classics, historical fiction or children's books.

These three categories of literature are great, don't get me wrong, but...oh, how naive I was!

When I finally did pick up Game of Thrones out of desperation, I was pulled into the story in an instant. It was full of mystery and blood and intrigue-- I was majorly hooked. It blew my mind how unfairly I had judged this genre. In actuality, the novel was both expertly plotted and well written.

I finished the first book in a little over a week and was hungering for the second book, but unfortunately could not find it anywhere. It was absolute torture. I finally decided to buy myself a Hanukkah present and purchased a Kindle Paperwhite online, using a Christmas coupon I found on amazon.com.

When it finally made its way to Israel (thank you Mom and Dad for helping me out there) I immediately downloaded the second book and submerged myself into its depths. Just on a side note, I actually thought reading on the kindle was easier on the eyes because the print wasn't so small. But anyhow, this went on for another three books until I finished the series.

So what did I learn from this experience?
1. Judging books before reading them is thoroughly insane
2. It's important to try something new every once in a while
3. Fantasy books rock!
4. I owe Amazon my sanity

Just so you know, when I got home my friend Evan, who is a major fantasy book expert, told me that Game of Thrones isn't actually that good compared to other fantasy novels. WHAT? 
Now I'm reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. He was right.... it reaches a new level of awesome.

Thanks for reading,
Loni