3,438 Pages Until July

So I've decided to start re-reading a series to prepare for the release of the next book this summer. The author (George RR Martin) decided to take ONE MILLION YEARS to finish this next installment and I had for the longest time given up on him. I was actually going to refuse to read the next book in the series because it had taken him so long to finish writing it and I was beginning to hate him. But, at the end of the day, I'm just a sucker for books, so I'm finding myself re-reading A Game of Thrones. And I'm in love with it. Again.

Re-reading books does not bother me. I know some people can't stand it, since they already know what's going to happen, but I love it. The first time I read something, especially if it's good, I read it so fast that I can barely recall what happened in the book. I read in the moment I guess. The second time I read something I usually go a bit slower and have time to savor some of the details and, since I do have an idea of what's happening in the story, I can pick up subtleties that I may have missed before or allusions to something that will coming up next.

Some books I've read 3 or 4 times, Tarzan is one and Diana Gabaldon's Outlander is another. I think I've read Antoine de St. Exupery's The Little Prince half a dozen times. They never get old, or boring. The stories captivate me time and again and create a little world that I wish I could be a part of. Fortunately for me, A Game of Thrones is casting the spell over my life and I'm finding it harder and harder to put down the book and return to my life of dirty dishes and dirty diapers.

So, for the next few weeks I will be re-reading this excellent series, welcoming the characters back into my life and searching for subtleties I may have missed the first time around. And then waiting, and hoping, that Mr. Martin is not messing with me this time around, and I can actually find A Dance With Dragons on bookshelves in July. With 3,678 pages in this series...I should be busy for a while.