Looking for something to read?
Every so often I go through a book-reading spree. My longest one lasted from Grade 1 ("First Grade" for you americans) through to my graduating year from university. It seems since moving out here to Seattle, getting an actual job, and then turning that job into an actual "career", I've had less time for reading. It's just so much easier to plop down in front of the TV and watch strangers' dreams get shattered on American Idol, Last Comic Standing, Marry My Dad, or any one of the other trillion "reality tv" shows that are bombarding the airwaves. (What is up with that? It's not like TV wasn't mindless enough before...)
Before I started first grade, we moved to Germany. My dad was in the military and we actually moved around quite a bit. But I think the move to Germany is what set me off on the right reading path for life (at least until adulthood). Because for 3 years - grades 1 - 3 - we had no TV. NO TV (we also had no phone but that's a separate topic). And I never missed it. I read. A lot. And I listened to stories on the radio. God - doesn't that make me sound like I'm ancient?
Anyway - I read a lot while we were there. And when we came back we did get a TV, but it was a black and white tv. Without a remote control. And no cable. And just the one TV for the entire house. So I just kept reading when we came back. Except for thursday nights when I was allowed to stay up till 9pm to watch Buck Rogers! Buck was preceded by "Littlest Hobo" at 7:30pm - another family favourite. Kind of like "Lassie", except that the Littlest Hobo was a boy dog, and a german shepherd, and he lived in Canada. And he was homeless. But I digress.
Now my reading sprees are much shorter and farther apart. But I just finished a good one - about 2-months long, and I read a lot of great books. So - Here they are (that's what you're supposed to do in one of these, right? List your favourite books, movies, music, etc.? Whatever).
- Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
- The Five People you Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom
- Self, by Yann Martel
- The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- The Rule of Four, by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
- The Davinci Code, by Dan Brown
- The Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant
- Pompeii, by Robert Harris
Actually - I have only just started that last one. I fear my spree is ending before I will get to the end of the book. Must. Get. To End. I had hoped it would last at least through my upcoming vacation. Must. Make. It. Last. Ah well. We'll see. I can feel the words releasing their hold. But it's actually a good book. I think i just need a break :-) Good thing this blog thing started happening.
I did quite well this spree though. I tend to have a theme for a spree. Recent sprees have been historical fiction, and there's a bit of that in this one too. I used to go through long and heavy science fiction / fantasy sprees. And there have been a couple of "airplane book" sprees. This one had a bit of a mix to it. All in all, a good time!