4. Tricksters Choice

I think I am secretly in love with Tamora Pierce. Seriously, every book I have read by her I have not been able to put down, and then once I am finished I sleep with the book beside my pillow for a few nights because I am just not quite ready to part with it yet. Is that sad?

Somehow, the characters just speak to me ... I identify with them because at the beginning they are lost and wondering what their purpose in life is as I wonder what my purpose in life is. And then something happens - like a god appearing in a dream and being all "Go here and do this" and they do and suddenly their existence makes sense and they are helping others and feeling fulfilled. Do I ever wish it was that easy in real life. Because here I am, 24 - to their usual 14,15, 16 - and I am still waiting for something to speak to me and point me in the right direction. And I know people older than I am who are also still trying to figure it out. I try to point myself in certain directions but all too often the ho hum realities of my actual existence require that I pay attention to the things I NEED to do to put food on my table and gas in my car and the time I squander away to nourish my dreams and desires are often stolen moments that occur all to infrequently. Hence the use of books for escapism because for just pennies a page I can steal away to some far off land that has little to do with my daily existence. And that is why I love Tamora Pierce, because she writes books that make it so easy for me to slip into a fantasy world - one paragraph and I am there.

This book got me to my nearest public library and I left with a shiny new library card in hand. I don't think I have had a library card in almost 5 years. That is a sad sad thing for the girl who used to spend hours in the library picking out books and even more hours poring over them. It made me realize that I need to refocus my energies and make reading more of a priority again - instead of wasting away in front of the TV and a lot of shows that bore me to no end and leave my brain sluggish instead of energized with imagination. (This is not to say that there are not shows that I love and adore because there are, and probably far too many of them, but that I should stop using the TV as background noise and end up watching programs that do nothing for me.)

Such a lot of accomplishments for one little book. I am excited to see what fantasy world I dive into next.