The First Book to Change My Life
Hello and merry meet, my lovelies! Welcome back to my blog. This week’s entry is not a writing blog but rather about books.
Specifically, it’s about one set of books, and it’s the set of books that changed my life. It’s also the set of books that inspired me to become a writer, more so than what I was encouraged by my sixth grade teacher when he had the non-band kids writing fanfic.
The Lord of the Rings.
I don’t care how corny it sounds or cliched, but I became obsessed with The Lord of the Rings at the age of 14. My mom’s then-boyfriend (before she got together with my stepdad) rented the movie, the 1978 Ralph Bakshi animated “Lord of the Rings” for my brother to watch. Not me. My brother. He figured (correctly so) that my brother would like that movie.
So did I.
I not only enjoyed that movie so much, but I did become obsessed with one of the main characters and the books. Frodo Baggins was my favorite character, and he’s still my favorite character now. I immediately sought out the books. I can’t remember if George had the first two or how I got a hold of the first two in the first place, but I did. Then I was on the hunt for The Return of the King. I had to know, had to know, how the story ended.
If you haven’t read the books or watched the movies at this point, please just know that I was emotionally wrecked after reading The Return of the King. I cried at the end.
I’d spend the next four years, the entirety of high school, reading The Lord of the Rings every spring. It was a comfort read for me. There were times I’d finish reading the books then dive straight back into them. I just couldn’t get enough of them.
Now, I’ve always been a reader. I’ve been a slacker on the reading for the last several years, but I’ve always been a reader. I did read the middle-grade books for girls, like the Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley Twins, and Sweet Valley High, but I’d expanded my reading greatly by the time I hit junior high (my school district didn’t have a middle school at the time - the sixth grade was still part of the elementary schools when we moved into the country) by reading classics and contemporary classics. However, while I got mocked and picked on for reading The Lord of the Rings, that had been one of my saving graces while in high school.
My reading has continually expanded. I still prefer science-fiction and fantasy overall, but I’m not afraid to expand my horizons. 😊
I look forward to reading more books this year, of finally reaching my goal of 25 books. 2024 already feels like a great year.