Alright, I'm back, ha ha. In previous posts, I mentioned that I had bought a massive bag of books a few weeks ago and posted a photo on Instagram of them. Well, I have been quickly working my way through that bag. It's a rather funny story as to how I acquired said books. A friend of mine, Kayla, went with me and my son to visit my family for a week. It was a blast! We all took one of the days to go to a local second hand shop and I ended up finding books for .25 cents to a dollar a piece. Needless to say, I filled a huge bag.

I came to find out that Kayla's way of choosing books and my way of picking them out were entirely different. I base my decision by reading the summary on the back cover; Kayla, on the other hand, chooses books with "pretty covers" and goes from there. As you may imagine, I laughed out loud when I heard this, but gave it a try figuring, why not?

I don't even remember how long we were in that silly store, but I remember it took up the entire afternoon as we scoured the shelves. Three weeks later and I have finally begun going through them. So far, I have read three books in the past four days. The first book was alright and had a decent story line. The second book verged on great, but kind of ticked off the reader in the middle and resumed the story at the end. [Author's first rule: Never tick off your reader.] The third book was just phenomenal. 

If you have been following along with my blog from the beginning, you will already know that David Eddings is my all-time favorite author and that I am head over heels for all of his books. There is just something about how he writes that sucks me in, not to mention his out-of-this-world imagination. I have read everything from Lord of the Rings to the Chronicles of Narnia, to Harry Potter, to Twilight and none of them have topped David Eddings for me.

I'm definitely more of a fantasy, paranormal buff, so stepping outside of that and into the contemporary romance novel was a stretch for me. I don't prefer stories that are laced with language and sex. I believe you can have an amazing story without the two of those placed so graphically into your mind for the rest of forever. That said, I just finished Secrets of the Lost Summer by Carla Neggers and fell in love. 

When I informed my husband that this was right up there next to David Eddings, he was shocked. Then I went on to tell him that there are twenty five more books she has written and I received the classic 'look'. [Check two posts before this one for more on that ;)] Bless his heart for putting up with my book obsession.

Switching gears a bit: Now that Michael Phelps has raced for the last time and the gymnastics I care about have come to a close, I can finally start focusing on finishing book four of the Tabitha Hale Saga! My week long brain break was nice, but I'm itching to see where my mind takes me. More to come soon!

-A

Because I just love you all so much, here's a sneak peek into chapter four of A Perception of Dreams.
 

Tabitha shrugged and stared into the water. “I just feel like I'm missing something. Even before my parents died, I always felt like there was something … more. When I'm alone, outside, I just have this sense of … I guess you could call it purpose. It's like I know who I am, yet I don't know anything at all, but on the other hand I'm supposed to be something more.” She shook her head suddenly, “Never mind. It's stupid.”

Aidan stood and offered her his hand. “First, you're not alone.” Helping her up, he picked up her blanket and handed it to her. “Second, your thoughts aren't stupid at all.” He paused, as if considering what to say, “Sometimes the best way to find yourself is to realize you're lost. Knowing that creates a starting point for finding your way home. If this is where your path leads you,” he said gesturing to the natural surroundings, “then don't let anyone pull you away from that. Only by being true to yourself will you become what you are truly meant to be.”

She was staring out over the water again, her face serious. He nudged her shoulder and smiled. “It's even better,” he said, “when you find those who share the same passions and walk the same path. It makes the traveling a lot less lonely.”

If you have a question about the Tabitha Hale Saga, please feel free to shoot me a message here or leave a comment at the bottom of this post and I will incorporate it into my daily schedule. (Once you're on the website, click 'contact' on the upper right hand side.) Make sure you subscribe either via email or blog so you don't miss tomorrow's question!