I Don't Want to Grow Up

When I was in school, about 9 or so, I started reading some books by an author of MANY fantasy books. I enjoyed them - they had fun characters, good plot-lines, a fun combination of the truly fantastical (unicorns, centaurs and the like) and the utterly silly. I read all the books he published up until 1990. At that time, for whatever reason, I started gravitating toward much "girlier" books that are now classified as "Inspirational Fiction" at our local library. I have enjoyed, over the last 2 decades (man does that hurt to type!), getting to know many authors that write uplifting novels that still include a little of the romance that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside and sigh a bit at the tenderness and purity of it, a good moral lesson, adventure, excitement, and some amazing characters that are woven into important times in history.

I have also enjoyed deeper books that are non-fiction, autobiographies, devotionals, books that make you think...

I went to the library a few weeks back, and saw a new novel by the first author, and thought "how fun! I'll pick up where I left off and get up to the current novel!" So I perused the shelves for his books, and picked up enough to get me through the total 3 weeks of check-out time...

First mistake was checking out too many books. There used to be a time when I'd walk out of the library with 2 dozen books and have them all read cover to cover in the 21 days before they were due. Then I had kids. Needless to say, I didn't get them all read.

Second mistake was thinking that after 30+ years of writing stories that there would be new plots, new jokes, new adventures...but I was disappointed. The books were so incredibly silly as to make me groan out loud at some of the comments he'd written, some of the events in the books...

I still enjoy a good joke, still enjoy that dry sense of humor on people, but I realized that not all of us can live in the same mental state we did when we were 15...and that sort of makes me sad.

Kind of like watching Robin Williams in Hook when he realizes that he's become a pirate...but I'm not sure I can find my Happy Thought in this matter.