Protector of the Small, Jane of Lantern Hill, and Banished

Writing up extensive thoughts about every book I read was much easier when I read fewer books. Around the beginning of May I switched to reading published books during my lunch hour at work instead of spending it on the computer and all of a sudden my rate of bookreading has SKYROCKETED -- and not just because of the extra hour of reading a day, but because the reading-every-day puts my brain in the mindset of reading profic and so I read more of it at home as well. In the month of May I completed 14 books, which is just shy of a book every other day. Like hell I had enough time/energy to write lengthy reactions to each of those books! Especially since usually these books are completed at lunch (when I'm not at a computer to write my thoughts down immediately) or at bedtime (when my computer has been turned off for the evening already).

But I MISS it, I really do. So I am going to keep trying my best. HERE:

Squire, and Lady Knight, by Tamora Pierce

I realized while reading these that there are two different modes of rereading I do. One is rereading a book that I've read infrequently enough or long enough ago that I don't remember everything that happens, so I am experiencing some or most (or all) of the contents anew. And one is rereading a book that I have already read a million times.

The latter makes a reread really fast! Because I don't need any time to digest or comprehend what I am reading -- I just motor on forward at breakneck pace. It's a way of reminding myself in order of everything I like about the book. There's nothing new or surprising, I'm not about to have any sudden insights about the content, I know exactly what is going to happen next and often the words in which it's going to happen. But it's a wonderful experience anyways because it's so comforting and enjoyable to just wallow in something I love and know so well.

I'm quite sure that there are people out there who would find this way of rereading books unfamiliar and/or uninteresting. But WOWWWW NO I LOVE IT.

This is all a very roundabout way to say, I have nothing much to say about these books. I LOVE THEM THE END?

Actually no there is something to say, and that something is this: ( cut for spoilers )

Jane of Lantern Hill, by LM Montgomery

A comforting reread! I was having a bad evening and this book is a delicious warm hug telling me that everything is okay.

It is a book about NATURE PORN and COMPETENCE PORN and FAMILIAL LOVE.

( cut for spoilers and for some discussion of unhealthy family relationships )

Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church, by Lauren Drain

You can tell pretty easily from this book what it is about. Lauren Drain was part of the Westboro Baptist Church for seven years, starting when she was a young teen, and this book chronicles her time among them.

( cut for spoilers and discussion of unhealthy religious experiences )