Chase Brammer

Most people that know me know that I love reading. So much in fact that on the morning of my wedding, I woke up extra early so that I could go to Barnes and Noble to get a book to read while on the honeymoon! My parents still make fun of me for that. Since then Lindsey and I have moved into our new condo in Pleasant Grove, and loving it here. My favorite room by far is our office that has red walls which are lined with black book cases, which are full! I decided that this year I wanted to keep a record of what I wanted to read, what I read, and set some goals in the process. In high school I used to read upwards of a 1000 pages per week. I don’t think I can top that, especially since my reading tastes have moved beyond Fantasy and Sci-Fi (mostly) into more business oriented books.

So here is my goal, to read 30 books by my first year anniversary with my wife. I already have a good chunk done, and will enjoy reading the rest too! Here they are.

Now the two of us are trying to not be the stereotypical newly wed couple, although I think that we are failing utterly in that regard!  We pretty much hang out with only ourselves, stay in our new condo admiring our very own home, tell each other endlessly that we love each other, and generally are fairly sickening to anyone that has never been in love and newly married.  But hey, we are only newly weds once, and it is a great time of life.  I sure am going to keep on rockin’ the newly wed phase as long as I can.

I have been a big fan of Fantasy books ever since I was first able to pick up a book and read. I think it is in large part due to my two older brothers Chad and Brady who pointed me in that direction. Too many people thing fantasy and think that the only people that read Fantasy also enjoy the the smell of their own BO and run from the complicated formatalites of any solcial interaction. But I hope this helps some people understand that I am neither of those, and that Fantasy/Sci Fi are some increadible genre’s that explore human nature in much the same way (and many times better) than that of the Classical works.

This week I finished up The Sword of Truth, a series by Terry Goodkind that I have been reading for 8 years now. I have been reading another series,
The Wheel of Time, since I was in 5th grade (14 years). Luckily the last book in that series should be out in the next year or so. Ainyway, it feels GREAT to finally be able to finish up a series.

It seems that fantasy series have been in a rut the last few years. Authors have been writing books that delve into divergent paths and don’t drive the main plot line. A good example of this are these two series that I am reading right now. Both series, in books 7, 8, and 9 both “lost their way” so to speak.

The last book of this series was a pleasant surprise and turn around for this series. It ended very well, bringing the whole series back around to book one and tied up many of the loose strings that I was left hanging with for 6 years.

Goodkind portrays in his novels that individuals can remain true in the face of adversity without sacrificing their values and moral beliefs. Throughout the series, the main character Richard discovers a new guiding principle in each book. It starts in book one with the First rule, and he gets a new rule each book. This one liners are great example that Fantasy can be a great form of literature as well.

1)  People will believe a lie either because they want to believe it’s true, or because they are afraid it might be true.

2)  The greatest harm can result from the best intentions.

3)  Passion rules reason.

4)  There is magic in sincere forgiveness, the magic to heal. In forgiveness you grant, but more so, in forgiveness you receive.

5)  Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie.

6)  The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason.

7)  Life is the future, not the past.

8)  Deserve victory.

9)  A contradiction cannot exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole.

10) Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one’s self.

11)  The Unwritten Rule