This weekend was kind of an odd one. I got a chance to read Meg Cabot's latest book, Every Boy's Got One. I don't know if anyone else has had the chance to read it yet, but it left me with this strange longing to go to Italy. Not Rome or Venice, which would be kind of understandable. No. Instead I have this intense need to go to Le Marche. Did I know about Le Marche before reading this book? No. But I really, really want to go there.

I then read Katie MacAlister's new book, Hard Day's Knight. And you know what happened? I got this bizarre need to go to a Renaissance Fair. Have I been to one before? No. Have I ever wanted to go to one before? No. But now I'm jonesing to go to one. After I go to Le Marche of course.

I can't decide if I'm just crazy and looking for an excuse to go someplace new/fun, or if the authors did such a kick ass job describing the settings of their stories that I'm compelled to see/visit them.

Maybe it's that I'm still bitter that the only vacation my family took when I was a child was a trip to Dollywood. And no, I'm not making that up. See the Grand Canyon? Nope. How about Mount Rushmore? Never saw it. What about the Statue of Liberty? Ha! That's crazy talk! A trip to rural Tennessee which your 10-year-old daughter fears will become Deliverance: the Sequel? That's family magic waiting to happen my friends.

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