Leaving the Wonder Spot

I have that empty feeling that only comes with the last page turn of a particularly wonderful book.

My most favorite author... the author whose words grace scraps of paper in my office, away messages on my instant messenger, titles of posts to my meager blog... the author who, for years, I've dreamed about becoming, has just released her second book. And I've just fallen in love with her all over again.

Melissa Bank. No one will ever know me like she does.

I hesitate to say that her second book, "The Wonder Spot," was better than her first, "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing"... but only in the way that a true romantic would hesitate to say that a second, third, and fourth kiss was better or truer than the first.

I want to write about the story, about the main character, about Bank's absolutely unique and perfect writing style... but it's been only twenty minutes since I closed the book and set it on the table.... I'm still looking longingly at it as I type, hoping for more. It seems too soon to dissect it and begin listing its qualities in "the wide open"... I'd rather keep it to myself, keep it intimate, for a while more.

(If you're really interested in "my" author, read this review/interview... it says all the things I wanted to.)

I'm at the point where I don't want to and can't think about anything other than Sophie Applebaum. This is both the hardest and the best part of a good book... coming to the end of it and not being able to let go of the characters... living in its pages.

I had the new Harry Potter - whose release I have been craving forever - sitting right next to "The Wonder Spot" on the table, waiting patiently for its turn to be loved... but I moved it to the kitchen counter. My second love affair with Bank is something that deserves to be cherished and remembered and loved for every last detail...

and so I've decided to wait to begin Harry. I know... it's a big step for a Potter-head like me... but Bank deserves it. For the next week or so, I'm going to hang out with my memories of Sophie.

It might be a while before I see her again... and the next Harry Potter movie will be out in no time.