Reinvented

Yes, it's true. I am reinvented. Sort of. It's not like I switched religions or anything. But after a recent discussion with my husband (you will also hear me refer to him as my boyfriend, Mr. Hottie, etc.), and a slew of events that were minimally life-changing, I am redefining my blog. I can't do YA anymore. Scratch that. I can do some of it, just not all of it. Because as the wise Dr. W once said, "Wasn't Narnia a whole different experience when you read it as an adult?"

(As Aslan roars in my face)

The answer is, "Of course it was." What I'm looking for is good literature. Good reads. Like the website. I'm kind of tired of over-the-top extremely handsome guys and out-of-this-world sparkling beautiful gals. I want substance. Besides sex, I mean. I don't need that from a book.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I don't have that many years left. Even if I live to be 100, I will never get to read all I want to, nor will I get to experience everything I want to. I need to choose things that will benefit me somehow, not just give me instant and fleeting pleasure. It's not that I'm going to feel guilty about all the YA I have read. Nor about the time I've spent following boards on pinterest of things I'm never going to do. But now it's time to stop. To turn a new leaf.

http://justsomething.co/the-34-most-hilarious-pinterest-fails-ever/

This isn't going to be a book review blog alone, but will now include intellectual thoughts. I will try to maintain a theme, especially year-by-year, but I'm not promising I will be that organized. I do promise I won't post any cookie recipes. Or tell you about my awesome parenting skills (puh-lease). I might post a favorite piece of literature from the Gutenberg project. Or a favorite painting. You get the idea. And yes, I will still read. Because...guilty pleasure alert...I just got a digital copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Overdrive. Squeee!

Oh yeah, this is good stuff. Because we do need an escape. But Harry Potter can be deep, too. I think that's why I liked the series so much. All that "love" goo. Serious stuff. But also really fun. Don't mock me. I loved it a long time ago.

The two books whose covers are pictured above are books that I read for my Lit class. While I never would have picked these books up without a class assignment (or at least a strong recommendation from a friend), I am so glad I've read them. The first, The Inconvenient Indian, is a brief history of the Native Americans from the time of Colonialism down and is written from a Native perspective. Thomas King has a colorful, honest, and sardonic way of telling these stories without boring us with a textbook version. American Indian Stories is a collection of essays and stories by Zitkala-Sa, AKA Gertrude Bonnin, who has written down these things in beautiful language and includes the story of her childhood. Yes, both of these are politically driven, but they're also interesting and well-written.

Well, there it is. Reinvented. What do you think?