Books and All That Jazz

When Steven and I discuss what we want out of our children, we both think they should be whatever they want to be, but they have to love reading. We don’t understand the concept of people who don’t read. Borders for us is like a candy store. When I was a kid, most media was censured at least somewhat, but books, I could read anything I wanted to (my mom didn’t even bat an eye when I brought home Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five at 13 years old). When Steven got in trouble, he got books taken away from him as punishment. We both can remember staying up all hours with flashlights under the covers (we still do that sometimes, minus the flashlights as no one monitors our bedtimes).

Everytime I go into Borders, there are just so many to choose from. It’s hard sometimes to decided what I want to read next. Sometimes I pick up bombs. I can’t make it through John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, it’s incredibly interesting, but it’s 600 pages in size 6 font and with the 2 toddlers, I’m just not hacking it. Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass I cannot get through the first chapter. I didn’t actually see the movie, but the previews looked good and I wanted to read the book. Seriously though, first chapter laboriously long and boring, I’m thinking of skipping the book and actually watching it.

What have I read lately?

I read Blindness by Josê Saramago. Think Lord of the Flies with blind adults. I picked up the book thinking it would be an interesting dive into the human character. It’s good, enjoyable, but very horrifically graphic. I don’t think I’d recommend it to most others.

Another Mother’s Life by Rowan Coleman. Chick Lit about learning to appreciate the life you’re given. Pretty good, predictable, nothing much to learn, just fun to read.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I’m big on post-apocalyptic and dystopia books and a sucker for romances (not like Norma Roberts, I can totally skip the intimate details of fictional character sex lives). So this book, a post-apocalyptical teen romance was right up my alley, I completely and thoroughly enjoyed it until the last page when I realized it was the first book in a series, and number 2 hasn’t come out yet. *groan*

The Birth House by Ami McKay. A fictional story of a midwife from Nova Scotia during the turn of the century and what happens when a medical doctor comes promising painless birth. I doubt very many people will read the book, the target audience has got to be considerably small, which is sad, because I really, really loved it.

What am I waiting to read? The Handmaid and the Carpenter by Elizabeth Berg, a fictional retelling of the birth of Christ. And The Glorious Deception by Jim Steinmeyer, a biography concerning a turn of the century magician’s (William Robinson) double life as Chung Ling Soo.

Oh and my favorite book of all time The Giver by Lois Lowry. You should totally pick it up and read it. A 10 year old can read it without difficulty and an 80 year old can read it and still have significant meaning. Steven’s favorite: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. *if you’ve read both of them, you can see how much Steven and I have in common and how much we differ*

December 24, 2008   Posted in: Märia's Moments