Why I Love Fantasy

Well, I claim to be a readoholic, so I thought it was time I post something about literature. I LOVE THE FANTASY GENRE - I always have. When I was growing up, I was (and still am) in love with The Chronicles of Narnia, The Chronicles of Prydain, and I think I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was in middle school. Remember Disney's Beauty and the Beast? At the beginning Belle talks about her favorite book and how it has, "far-off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise!" Well, I focused on to that part of the movie and literally went to a book store with my mom to see if they had any books containing those things. As a youngster, I loved how easy it was to become attached to the characters, and that's kind of how I measure how much I like a series now that I'm older. For example, the Harry Potter series is one of my favorites - so much so that I wrote my Master's thesis on it. Every time I read the series, I almost feel depressed at the end because I miss the characters and wish I could keep reading about them. My dad is the one who introduced me to fantasy and I think I must get my love of reading and my taste in literature from him. Thanks, Dad!

My love of fantasy is something I've never been ashamed of. You know in high school when you're insecure about pretty much everything? (Well, I was at least.) I never cared if people thought I was a nerd for what I chose to read. And I read a lot. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of favorite books that aren't fantasy (Pride and Prejudice, The Kite Runner, and The Notebook, to name a few). But, honestly, fantasy is usually my go-to genre because it makes me feel good when I read it. I admit I read for pleasure and rarely for knowledge, but that doesn't mean I don't learn something every time I pick up a book. I just see it as an added bonus! To me, fantasy provides something that no other genre can - not just an escape, but a connection to characters who live in totally different worlds, but still experience similar trials and circumstances.

Currently, I'm reading A Storm of Swords from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. It's excellent. It was crazy because I had been intending to read the series for a while, and right after I finished the first book, I found out that HBO was turning it into a TV series! I think they've done a great job with it so far. I can't wait to see how the rest of the season goes. Anyway, this series is definitely R-rated. Don't let your kiddos read it until you think they're ready for very graphic, adult content. I was excited to see that Martin finished the last book of the series and it comes out in July! Yay.