Nov 5, 2007

Hooray for BOOKS!

I love to read. I love to read a LOT.

Sometimes to the detriment of my social life. Like when I give a bad review to one of my friends favorite books. Or like when I take my novel to family functions with the in-laws and they mock me ruthlessly. (Hey, Doug takes his book too.)

I think I may have inherited this obsessive love from my father who always has a book with him. He used to read while driving to California for our family vacations. Yes, WHILE DRIVING. He propped Louis L'Amour on the steering wheel. If you ever run into him at Disneyland (which isn't hard to do) you'll find he has his book there too. Just in case he has to stand in line and happens to find his companions boring. (It happens a lot.)

Or, I may have inherited it from my mom who seemingly read herself to sleep every night of her life. I remember her coming out of her bathroom, cozy nightgown on, smelling like Keri Lotion, and climbing into bed to read to me. Or for me to read to her. Or for us to read together.

Or it could have been motivated at first by greed since we got paid a penny a page to read as kids.

Whatever has caused this slight dysfunction, me and reading go together like ink and paper. That's why I'm so happy with the last two packages I've gotten.

Yesterday a package came from Amazon with my name on it. It was pretty much the same thing that happened in February. Knowing I hadn't bought anything, I wondered if this was something Doug had ordered using my Amazon account. Once again, I figured if that was the case, too bad for him. I opened it to find this awesomeness:

The Superior Person's Book of Words by Peter Bowler from our fabulous friends, the Dunn's.
(And did I ever mention I really love big words? I do.) I can't wait to read this.

A week or so previous to this, I opened a package from my sister and found this little bit of love:

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
Jenny promises it will be one of my favorites. I'm only about 2 chapters in, but so far, so good. She also recommends renting the mini-series after I finish it. Fine by me! Only thing better than a good book, is a good book made into a mini-series! Especially if it's produced by A&E like my favorite: "Pride & Prejudice - The 5-hour version." (That's not exactly the official title.)
Some may find all this reading a waste of time. But without it, this blog wouldn't be nearly as egregious*ly executed with such afflatus** and might just succumb to battology***.

So like I said before; HOORAY FOR BOOKS!

*Exceptional. An interesting example of a word that has gradually changed from complimentary to pejorative in its usage, being now most commonly found immediately preceding the word ass.

**A sudden rush of divine or poetic inspiration.

***The continual reiteration of the same words or phrases in speech or writing.

10 comments:

Jenn said...

I love to read-- not while driving though! How funny. Enjoy the BIG word book.

Mrs. Dub said...

An excuse to use the word a$$ is a good one in my opinion.

Bartimaeus said...

Show Off

Linz said...

Nice! I am so glad you like it!

Naomi said...

I remember reading A Town Like Alice and liking it. One of my top reads? Probably not, but it was enjoyable.

And that scene in The Kite Runner is disturbing, but I'm glad that you stuck it out.

Thanks for the other recommendations. I need to add them to my list.

Lanes said...

I am making justin read this post just so he knows that I am not the only person that reads to the detriment of social life. I love it too and I also have my mom to thank for it. She and I read to eachother until I graduated from high school. We still do sometimes when she's in town, weird I know, but we love it!

Paul and April said...

I want that big book of big words!It can't hurt to improve your vocab! I love to read as well. I know I'm a dork but I am just finishing the Orson Scott Card Ender's Series! Yes I love Sci Fi! So terrible! I can't believe how big your kids are getting!

DianeM said...

Well at least you finished Kite Runner...now the question is, Will you give A Thousand Splendid Suns a shot?

Kelley Bochman Smith said...

I'm in a book club and we always need recomendations. Do you keep a journal of the books you've read? I'm thinking of starting one as I have purchased a few books several times forgetting that I read it!

Wendi said...

I linked over to your from my friend Mary because I thought you were someone I knew, but I don't think so. Anyway, I was intrigued by your love of reading--I love books too. I'll be interested to check these out. And I had the exact same experience/opinion about the Kite Runner. Everyone says that it is a must read, but to me it just left me feeling uncomfortable and disturbed. I like learning about other country's cultures and history, but not that way. Loved your book reviews. I'm always looking for good ideas, so I'll probably stop back if it's okay with you.