Hello.

 I thought, since I'm still working on my first real post and putting the page together, that I'd just go ahead and introduce myself.

My name is Shirley. I live in Arizona with my family, which includes my husband, kids, 4 dogs, 2 cats, and some livestock and chickens. 

I'm in school and work full time, so occasionally posts might get sporadic around here, but I'll always be reading.

Reading for me was an escape from life. My mother, weirdly (or maybe not) would let me read her books that she had laying around. I don't recall ever really seeing her read a book, though. And we definitely didn't talk about those books, which were basically a step up from a Harlequin Romance. Predictable love stories where they dislike each other, but then secretly start falling in love but don't say anything until some sort of something gets in the way and they discover that they both have felt the same about each other, et voila! Love and a happy ending.

That's what my mother let me read, outside of school reading. And I read the hell out of them.  

I don't remember a lot of the books I read in school, but I remember those Julie Garwood novels. Do I ever. 

The first I read was The Wedding by Julie Garwood.  In the book, Lady Brenna is on her way to marry a Scottish Laird, but on the way her group was waylaid and she ended up married to Laird Conner MacAlister, whom she had met when she was a young girl, we find out and had asked him to marry her.

Later I found out that it was the second book in a two book series, and then it spiraled. 

I believe I have read almost all over her Scottish Laird/Laird Fiancées books. In those books I found the romance that was missing from my life... Just kidding! As I said, it was an escape for me. In the interim, between finding all these books, I read others, of course. Most were about the same. Nothing of real substance. 

As I grew up, my horizons expanded and I finally started reading all those books that people go on and on about. That's what I'd like to discuss in the following posts of this blog. Me discovering the books that I probably should have been reading that weren't 'bodice rippers'.

Some of the books I'll talk about I have read before, some are ones that I have wanted to read and just haven't yet. 

My first choice is one that I have read before, not too long ago.  Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie. I signed up for the Read Christie Challenge on the Agatha Christie website and was given a list with check boxes beside the items on the list. Thinking that we were to just read the books and check off each item as we read, I made my book choice. However, in looking at the website blog, they chose Ordeal by Innocence (one I hadn't heard of), so I'm looking around to see if I can find a copy that I feel like buying or whatever. I WAS going to go to the library, BUT I got really busy doing fun stuff with my friends, and it will be closed for the next few days, then there's work.

Anyways, it's early Sunday morning now and I have some homework to catch up on before the day is over, so I hope you have a great week, and whatever you're doing, I Hope it's reading!