Catching up on my lack of a 'misguided' youth

I have always loved to read. Ever since I can remember, I've loved books and have had my nose buried in one. Now that I have my girls, it's hard to find time to actually sit down with a book. Any quiet time I have these days I try to spend with my husband, or I end up dashing around the house trying to do whatever chores need doing while I have the opportunity to do them.

To make up for that, I listen to audio books so I don't feel completely cut off from the literary world.

I always favored science fiction and fantasy books over more main stream or 'real' stories. I started reading Stephan King when I was in middle school. And so, while I had heard of Flowers in the Attic, and knew that it was not 'approved' reading for young adults, I was never that interested in finding out why. I knew it was quite a controversy at the time and knew the general outline but that was it.

So, Lifetime TV made it into a movie of the week. Sheer curiosity, and the fact that I was home on maternity leave led me to record it and eventually I watched it.

To my surprise, I thought it was really well done, although I could tell there was a lot that had been glossed over for editing purposes and while they did a good job developing the characters in such a short window, there was a lot that I could see that was unfulfilled. As a book turned to movie typically is.

So, I felt the need to delve back into the reading I missed in my youth and see if all the controversy was founded.

It's a fairly long audio book, 16 hours. I'm 6 hours in and enjoying it, again, I'm slightly surprised by this although I don't know why. It's well written and compelling. While I know the ending, or the TV version anyway, I am excited to turn it on for those few minutes each day between Mama T's house and my office.