Sunday, August 8, 2010

Reading Joys

 Lesley gave me a book years ago in which I started writing about the books I had read, but I'm not very disciplined and I soon got 'way behind and quit. When I discovered I was buying and re-reading books I had read years ago I decided the time had come to do better! So this year I've read forty-eight books and have given them a rating and a few brief words telling about the book. It has been something of an eye-opener. I have read mostly mysteries - not thrillers - but have a couple of 'chunkers' mixed in, and one that I just couldn't get into. There have been no non-fiction books, but that is by choice. I'm pretty old, and think that I should just enjoy reading and not try to become too enlightened by what I read. Non-fiction requires a lot of thinking, and I'm more into entertaining books!

 I still try to keep up with the news, and read a news magazine every week, but we have even given up our daily newspaper. This was not my choice, but our paper has become very expensive with very little real 'meat' to it. So dear husband said we should no longer buy it daily. We do get the Sunday paper, and that is one of my favorite times of the week. I love the lazy time of reading every section, and cutting out articles on travel and finance - some that I send to my children - whether they want them or not!

Since I volunteer at our library book sale every week I have a plethora of books to choose from. We have a good library, but can only check out books for two weeks. I usually finish a book within a week or less, but don't like having a deadline. So each week I take books back to be sold, and come home with a bag full of new books. Last week I brought four books home and discovered that one is written by the writer on the top sellers this month - Justin Cronin, the author of The Passage. The book I'm reading now is his second novel, I think, and I'm finding it quite enjoyable. Several weeks ago The Passage was in our "tall books" or trade paperback section and I grabbed it - for $1.00! I'll read it later this year, but after I finish Cronin's The Summer Guest, I'll read another mystery!

4 comments:

  1. You're way ahead of me in reading! I think I've only finished 38 books so far this year.

    I love your new template, Mom! Makes me a little anxious for fall, especially after our heat wave yesterday. Guess it will be just as hot today. It's only 5:45 am and already 81.

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  2. Well, you work all day and have to squeeze in reading time. I have nothing much to do except housework and reading!

    The picture was taken in New York and Lake George I think - but I didn't label it, so I'm not sure exactly where I took it. It was definitely back east somewhere. Might have been in Maine that year we stayed at a timeshare there.

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  3. I heard recently that even as the daily big newspapers lose readership, the smaller, local weeklies are doing well. Tom is the one who pays attention to political news in our house. I barely know who the vice-president is. ;<) The news I want is book news and I get most of mine via blogs. I remember years ago slogging through the NY Times Book Review. It seemed like the reviews were longer than the books; and they told me way too much of the story, either fiction or nonfiction; and they so often were more about the review writer than the book. I'm much happier reading blogs.

    I do like nonfiction on subjects that are interesting to me. There's one about sleeping sickness, called Asleep, which I look forward to, and one on prohibition called Last Call, and one I just heard about -The Great Divorce about a woman who tries to divorce her husband in the 1800s. It involves the Shakers. I'm 'pretty old' too. :<) I think I'm right in between you and Les, though closer to you I think. I'm 62.

    Any thoughts about writing book reviews here?? I'd love to hear what you read and what you thought of the books.

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  4. Nan, I'm rather intimidated by the book reviews given in many of the blogs I follow - especially my daughter's! As I said I read for enjoyment, so don't make notes as Lesley does, and just write a quick note about the book in my Word file. Maybe I'll get more ambitious and write just small reviews. You've given me something to think about!

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