Sometimes in my reading, there are books that I feel are sooo good that I could roll around in and just luxuriate. If I feel like I'm getting something out of the book beyond merely enjoyable reading, something that maybe I learn about myself or, better yet, just learn something -- anything -- from, than those books are "beefy". Frequently those types of books are historical and even non-fiction (oh how I looove me some non-fiction British history).
However, with P.C.'s books (yes, I feel like I can be on first name basis with this author) I almost always learn...something. Primarily in her mythological books, the Goddess Summoning series. I'll be honest, I had zilch in school about mythology and I seriously zoned out in any of the sciences (except for anatomy & physiology, which I rocked), which means that I missed a lot in astrology - a fact that John finds seriously lamentable since I can't locate any constellations beyond the Big Dipper and Orion and his belt. With the Goddess Summoning series, I always find myself hitting Wikipedia, looking up anything I can on gods and goddesses, and anything mythology-related. Do you know how MUCH is encompassed in that one subject? Oh. My. God.
When I've exhausted all I can stand on the internet in my quest, than I go to John and pick his brain (which, by the way, he loves because he's such a lovably arrogant geek). And then (yeah, you knew there had to be more) when my ears start to bleed, because seriously, once my wonderful husband starts, it's going to be a while before he stops answering my question, I'll go and hit the books. The number of non-fictional and reference books I've bought over the years about subjects that have interested me after I've read a romance is seriously terrifying. Since I started reading the Goddess Summoning series, I've amassed at least three huge mythology books. But my OCD tendencies is another topic for some other day...
I guess my point of this post is to see if I'm alone in this type of qualifying a good book: one that I love and would recommend to my friends because it was just that great, or one that I feel like I get something else out of, usually an education about a subject I'm interested in (history, mythology, cooking, you name it).
The funny thing is: I need to get this Cast review done at least before I return to work this Friday, right? And it took me nearly two hours to get through nearly 60 pages because I was too busy looking up Coventina, Viviane, or the Lady of the Lake -- depending on which legend you're talking about.
I like to be well-informed like that...
2 comments:
I can also get lost in elements but I have not read P.C. Cast because I wasn't sure if they were romance or more fantasy. Also, I only have a glancing knowledge of gods and goddesses and that certainly wasn't from school. Sometimes something like that seems to immense for me to even start.
I also have a short attention span (or I get bored early) so after a few pages I'm done.
As for cooking in books - I get hungry and I'm not much of a cook so I get frustrated. grrr.
CindyS
LOL Come down to SC, Cindy, and I'll cook for ya! I LOVE to cook, probably too much. I have a folder on my counter, stuffed with tons of recipes that I've printed out, torn out from magazines, or wrote down over the years. I'm trying to organize it into what I *want* to try and what I have tried and we liked.
As for the P.C. Cast books, there's a couple series she has going on -- the Goddess Summoning series, which is more romance fiction oriented, and then there's her Goddess Divining series, which is more heavy into the mythology and fantasy aspect. Both are equally good, but I lean more towards the Divining series which I find easier to read.
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