On the Reading Kick

 I know..I go in spurts.

I was sewing everything in sight...several projects going at once.  Three quilts ready for binding.  

Then I was outside and working in flower beds and cleaning up things and just making everything (I hoped) look nice.

I love to read, and once thing I was looking forward to in retirement was reading books that *I* wanted t read, books I didn't have to teach or think about how they would/could be presented to students, how I could fit them into the curriculum, how students would react to the book or even just to a reading assignment.  

But I can't do all of these things at once.  I tried.  I would work in the flower beds in the morning.  Retreat to the sewing room after lunch.  Hit the stairs and the master bedroom around 8:30 and read.  Didn't work too well. For one thing---other activities would get in the way.  Running to the grocery store. Kids coming over.  Something else needed to be done.

Then there is the issue of how I like to read the books.  Sometimes I just love to have the hard  printed copy in my hands. I like to turn the pages.  I flip to the back and check out the ending just so I know where the plot line is going.  

Sometimes I like to read on the Kindle app and check out books from Overdrive.  This especially handy when I read reviews or suggestions on the Whatcha Reading?  FB page. I can carry my iPad, read anytime, read outside on the deck, even in the dark if I want to because of the backlight.  My problem is that sometimes the book I want to read is on the Wait List.  Other times the book appears on my bookshelf, but it disappears before I have a change to read it.

So I switch back and forth.

Megan had given me a book several weeks ago, probably at the beginning of the official end of the school year.  I liked it, but it was hard for me to get 'into' it and I had several sewing projects going on.  I finally finished it and returned it on the day of Cooper's 7th birthday party.

Next I read a quick book whose author had been recommended by one of the FB group.  The title intrigued me since I graduated in 1969 and many of the events in the book threw me back to my high school days. 

 

Another book had appeared in my bookshelf so I moved on to it so I wouldn't lose it because my borrowing time had run out. New author for me, but I did like his style of writing.  Even though I am not at the same stage in my life, I could understand how the main female character was feeling.  The ending created feelings of sadness and anger both. I was more upset with the outside people who thought they could make decisions that they really had no business making.

Next up was a book by an author who was recommended, but the books were all on the Wait List.  I found this one as a substitute (and available) by the same author.  I really enjoyed it.  Even though it was fiction, there were so many allusions to the times and places of 1950s New York City, and I could imagine our babysitter Rose personifying the character Rose in the book.

 

Finally I am reading a non-fiction book, and I don't usually read much non-fiction.  This was another recommended book, supposed to be full of laughs and fun, so I checked on Overdrive and there it was.  Available!

So I am on a reading kick right now!  When Becky was here today, I showed her the squares I had already sewn for Tessa's Fairy Tale lap quilt.  I confessed that I hadn't done much lately to show any progress, and I also added that I hadn't even started on Lynnlee's yet. Plus I have a pile of Christmas fabric to make table runners and it would be good to work on those now while I have more time.

Reading again.  Using the iPad and the Kindle app to read books on Overdrive. Checking the FB Whatcha Reading?  page so I can add more books to either my bookshelf or to the Holds list.

How long will it last?  Who knows?   But it is fun while it does!