Hi, I’m Amanda. I’m an outgoing introvert (Enneagram 2w3) who seeks the positive, bright things in life with a not-so-hidden love for murder, serial killers, and the darker genres of literature. I believe if you don’t love reading you just haven’t found the right book to pull you in yet! Follow this blog for discussions on what I’m reading and if you should try it too!
It’s Me. I’m the Murderino!
Have you ever connected so deeply with a person or thing that you feel if you were forced to be without it you would be a totally different person? This is me and reading. I’ve always been a supremely empathetic person (not quite Will Graham of Hannibal Level – but just under). 😉 This means that every human interaction I have takes something out of me – it’s exhausting and I’m a natural introvert so multiply exhausting by fatigued and you’ve got me at the end of every day. However, reading doesn’t require me to use empathy – I can read and not put myself in the shoes of the characters or within the story. I can read simply for the pleasure of reading.
I started reading at a very young age – I”ll have to ask my mom but it was definitely before most kids enroll in Kindergarten (I was homeschooled, lol). My home was always full of books on all kinds of subjects and we even had the hardbound library of Encyclopedia Britannica that I think people sold door to door (can.you.imagine. THAT in 2020) 🙂 I was the kid who had to be told to go outside and play…and I would take my book outside, or up a tree. I was also the kid who would hide under the covers with a flashlight to consume “just one more chapter” after bedtime (which inevitably turned into marathon midnight reading sessions). My childhood was lovely with a ton of free personal pan pizzas from the BookIt! Program and I distinctly remember one summer reading 80+ books (I don’t think I slept much but what else is a homeschool kid supposed to do) 🙂
Fast-forward to high school, I’m almost positive I may have been the only high schooler in the history of the world to actually read ALL of the required reading and novels for each of my English courses. I fell even deeper in love with literature and discovered some favorites that remain to this day. It was my first experience with new genres and I loved exploring my personal likes and dislikes. My all-time-favorite book was read in 9th grade; The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. The story is full of betrayal, murder, true love, pirates, prison-breaking, war, and intrigue – not typical loves of previously homeschooled, self-proclaimed nerdy girls but here we were. Then came the short story, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson – to this day, as an Assistant Principal of a High School, I like to listen in to the Freshman English classes as they dive into that craziness. I slowly came to realize that, while I’ll read anything I can get my hands on, I truly love darker themes in literature that cause you to think deeply.
After High School, life got crazy – college, marriage, 3 children, 2 Masters Degrees, full-time jobs…I stopped reading. I still read – textbooks, menus, unhelpful child-rearing blogs – but nothing that got me excited to continue down a dark rabbit-hole. Then an author I follow, Jon Acuff, posted at the end of 2017 that he read 100+ books that year – and I knew I could too. I had to allow it back into my life, read things I enjoy, NOT read things I didn’t. And I did – in 2018 I completed 100 books, in 2019 – 120, and 2020 hasn’t slowed my reading journey down. But, I know, I have to focus on what I love to read. What do I love? I love thrillers, I love true crime, I love suspenseful mysteries, I love World War 2 Historical Fiction…and every once in a blue moon I need a Rom-Com that brings lightness back into the places Serial Killers tried to remove it from.
I truly believe that if you don’t LOVE to read, it’s because you haven’t found YOUR genre. Step away from the textbooks, away from the self-help (unless you’re into that sort of thing), away from the monotony of whatever you have been reading (if you have been reading) and pick up something new, unexpected, off-brand, or totally ridiculous. I’m living proof that you don’t have to fit a mold – I’m a conservative-leaning, mother, pastor’s wife, assistant high school principal, introverted, homeschooled nerd who happens to be enthralled with serial killers, psychopathology, and gruesome murder 🙂 I’m merry AND a murderino.
The Merry Murderino 