the fine line

i became OBSESSED with reading about 5 years ago. i'm never not reading a book. you can ask my husband...he hates it. it took me a few months to learn what i loved to read, which turns out i love young adult fiction. anything with a good love story and i'm hooked. i read A LOT of fluff books. a lot a lot a lot. which is fine. i like fluff. if i wanted depressing i'd watch the news. but last year i discovered melina marchetta.

after reading a couple hundred books i've learned there's a fine line between reading novels that either leave a devastatingly bad taste in your mouth or leave you devastatingly moved. some writer's can do it, some wish they could and some just simply shouldn't try.

if you read only one book i ever recommend, read melina marchetta's On the Jellicoe Road. i can't tell you what it's about. it's the kind of book you just have to experience. it's my favorite book that she's written. possibly my favorite book of all time. i can't even tell you why. once you finish the last page it's the kind of book that you close and just sit there.

last night i finished my third book by melina marchetta and the fourth is on my couch armrest waiting to be devoured. i wish i could find words to describe the way her books affect me. this woman writes the most real and touching relationships-family, friend and love. her stories are heartbreaking and yet give you hope. they have the ability to change you. every word is perfectly used to "show not tell" the characters stories. her books are definitely not fluff. expect them to make you cry and leave an ache in your heart for days. but also expect them to make you feel alive and leave you devastatingly moved.