Surgery, recovery, and canceled international travel all produced more family time at the end of the year.  A nasty cold decided it likes me—a little too much.  I can’t quite get rid of it.  While I don’t recommend this method of forced stillness, it has advantages.  Spending more time with my family is the best part of convalescing.  The second best part?  Reading.

In the last month I’ve read close to 10 books.  (Really, I’ve lost count—I think it’s closer to 13, but I don’t want to sound like a braggart.)  On top of that I’ve been watching some of the movies that go with the books.  A multi-media approach never hurts to enforce the truth that the book is almost always superior to the movie.

My new found joy is reading Rick Riordan‘s young adult books–the Percy Jackson series, the beginning of the Heroes of Olympus series, and the start of the Kane Chronicles.  Riordan is an engaging storyteller weaving mythology and contemporary life together in a fascinating way.  As much as I like his books—and I most certainly do—I love that they’re becoming a family affair.

I bought the first 3 Percy Jackson books for my oldest nephew’s half birthday last year.  It took him months to decide to read them, but once he did there was no turning back.  I think he’s currently on his third reading of the series.  My brother, his dad, started reading them, too.  Then I came and started reading—and quickly zoomed ahead.

I’m currently reading the first of the Kane Chronicles.  Throughout the day P kept sneaking up behind me to glance over my shoulder and see where I was in the book.   Noticing him led to great conversations about what was happening, the connections between Greek and Egyptian mythology, and what I thought might be coming up next.  He even offered to sell me hints.  What a mercenary reader!

I loved it!  I know it brought out the inner book geek and former English teacher part of me, but it was wonderful.  I think we’ve even convinced my mom to start reading Percy Jackson and The Lightening Thief.

While there have been days I’ve silently lamented the inevitable maturing of my nephews, this helps change that.  Now I can’t wait for M to become an enthusiastic reader.  I love that we have three generations reading and discussing the same books.  I’ve already started thinking about what we can read next.

I know there will be books that one will enjoy and others won’t.  I know we’ll disagree about why things are written the way they are.  I know we’ll keep reading and talking.  We have many ties that bind us to one another; it looks like we’ve added a new one.

What are you reading?  Who are you discussing it with?

photo courtesy of Pauline Yu