These last five days away from work have been wonderful. I got to spend five mornings sleeping in - which is anything past 5am. I played with my daughter. I finally got my crown installed on my dental implant. I even took the family to the seaside for a timely respite from the winter weather.
Winter weather has never been a real cause for unpleasant feelings in my life. When the sun is conspicuously absent from the sky, the gentle glow of a bedside lamp, or fireplace is all the more inviting. And, when you are a lover of books (as I am), any excuse to take time to read is a good one. I don't usually get time to read. I'm up at 5am, out the door by 5:30, working until 3:30pm, driving back home until around 4:45, helping with either dinner or distracting my daughter, and generally things wind down sometime around 8 or 8:30. Time to read? I'd like some time to breathe. Even with this modern-day schedule that is common to many a Californian, I make time to read.
I'm not blessed with my wife's ability to devour a book in an evening sitting. She is an incredible reader that manages to maintain speed, without compromising comprehension. I'm a grazer. I'm also a reader that reads more than one thing at once. Non-fiction mingles with suspense, horror, and religious tomes. I nibble a little from them all, mixing up their plots and theses into a schizophrenic mess. Even so, I'll likely never change. I can often quote some obscure trivia on any number of subjects. Very often the quote starts out with "I read somewhere, that..."
At the moment I am engaged in about 8 different pieces of writing:
California - A History
Kevin Starr
I'm reading this one, because I just love knowing more about California. And, I'm hoping to get my stuff together to write a novel set in the 1840s and modern day.
Cell
Steven King
My brother-in-law knows that I'm a sucker for fiction. This was a Christmas gift, coupled with a much appreciated Barnes&Noble gift card.
The Alexandria Link
Steve Berry
This is a paperback suspense/thriller of the sort that I read a little faster than usual.
The Way of the Wild Heart
John Eldredge
A book on how to be a Christian man - a good guy, not a "nice" guy.
1491- New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Charles C. Mann
Another Non-fiction history of the New World before it was "discovered".
The Omnivore's Dilemma
Michael Pollan
If you are what you eat, then Americans are mostly #2 Corn, petroleum, and red dye 40. This book makes the science of the American food industry an interesting read.
Bag of Bones
Steven King
This is a book on tape that I picked up at a book outlet going out of business. I think I got it for about $4. This is the second time listening to it. It's a favorite of mine, as it is read by the author himself.
Sunset Magazine
Is there a better magazine for Left Coasters? I love living in the West, and I love reading about it.
This piece from Forbes is something that I can relate to. If I could I would have a library something along the lines of that pictured in The Bookworm, 1850, by Carl Spitzweg- up there at the top of the post.
Please, won't you share what you've been reading? A book lover always loves to hear about new avenues of reading to explore.
10 comments:
Though I am an English major, I don't read that many books. I enjoy much smaller things about the English language... like poems or just studying grammar...
BUT I did manage to read during winter break. I read The Kite Runner. And shortly after, I saw the film. The movie complimented the book well. But I don't know how well the movie stands alone.
As of today, I will be devouring textbooks. But I got a book from a friend as part of our annual Christmas exchange and started it the other day-- In the Time of the Butterflies. So far, I'm intrigued.
I'm going through a couple:
Separation and the Sword in Anabaptist Persuasion by Gerald Biesecker-Mast.
The Last Disciple by Hank Hanegraaff and Sigmund Brouwer.
Salvation at Stake by Brad Gregory. Already read it, and have highlighted the heck out of it, but it's too rich and bursting to simply leave on the shelf.
Hutterite Beginnings by Werner Packull.
The Life and Thought of Michael Sattler by C. Arnold Snyder.
The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy.
And I think that's my limit.
Is that Hanegraaff series any good? I haven't read any religious themed fiction for quite a while. In fact, I think the last one I read was The Oath. A re-read actually. I never did read any of the Left Behind series. It just seemed too popular to be enjoyable.
I'm have enjoyed what I have read so far of the Hanegraff series, just because it's a different perspective than the norm. I think you would enjoy it.
I'm starting the reading for my doula certification, so lots of pregnancy, breastfeeding, labor, and birth partnering books, too many to list here.
I just finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns", " Three Cups of Tea", "The Glass Castle", and "The Alchemist". I loved all of them. I want to check out "In the Time of Butterflies" that Megan mentioned, but that will be down the road a bit. I have "Look Me in the Eye" waiting for me at the library and also " Monique and the Mango Rains."
That about does it for me. This was a good idea. Thanks for sharing it!
Kimbrah
I heard about Look Me In The Eye, on the radio. Given the rise in diagnosed cases of Asperger's, it would be nice to read about what it's like from the viewpoint of the person with the condition. I think I read somewhere... that his brother is the fellow that wrote Running With Scissors.
Augusten Burroughs wrote Running With Scissors.. woo, a book I have actually read!! hah
Recently I watched Bobby, which is a movie that is at times cheesy, but more often filled with a kind of haunting tension due to the well known outcome, some well casted actors, and some very dramatic scenes. I guess I might compare it to Crash, but about something much more substantial. Anyway, the point is that this movie opened my eyes to Bobby Kennedy, about whom I knew very little. I've been reading His Life, by Evan Thomas and it's been a slow read, but a very interesting one.
I know very little about the craziness of the sixties, but I intend to find out more.
I forgot to list another one of the books I'm reading in tandem.
Bowling Alone
by Robert Putnam
It's about the decreasing involvement of Americans in civic life: whether it be the PTA, environmental causes, social causes, or even church.
Europe Central, by William T. Vollmann.
No Country For Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy
The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy by Bill Hayes (this one's a biography of Henry Gray, the author of Gray's Anatomy)
"A room without books is like a body without a soul."
Gilbert K. Chesterton
Chesterton's detective series - The Father Brown books - is a good read. The central character is a priest who is a detective solving mysteries. Also Chesterton is well know for his book "Orthodoxy" which is good to read after reading "Mere Christianity" by Lewis and is a complimentary book to it.
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