I like to read...promise!

I have finally returned to the wonderful land of fictional novels! Dragged, not quite against my will, to the Manchester library I was reintroduced to the beauty of the written word. Sadly, my lust for reading had diminished quite drastically during college. Most books I find myself enjoying are non-fiction and educational; that is, if I am capable of reading beyond the third chapter before shelving it and reaching for a new paperback that I have been drawn to. What had happened to the desire for entertainment through turning pages, engaging my mind in creative structure and character design? Why was the fictional text dulling me to sleep? Why has it been so difficult, especially for someone who absolutely loves to write?

Unsure of the answers to those questions, I am almost afraid to keep asking them because for the third time in the last three years, I can't put a book down! Each page keeps me guessing about the next. At night I dream of it. During the day I research it.

Here are the three books that have intrigued me most recently. I don't know if there is a common thread, but it's worth listing them: Dandelion Wine, Brave New World, and currently Angels and Demons. I can't imagine those have anything in common. The summer after my senior year of high school I devoured Stephen Lawhead's Song of Albion Trilogy. Prior to that summer I had read countless novels, so many I cannot begin to recall them.

Have any of you experienced a lack of relaxed reading after college? What are your theories?