Book Slut

I've already mentioned how it took a long time to get through my progressive books. Well, I am currently in the middle of my last November book (Native American heritage month), meaning I have not even started my February list yet (Black History month). This is partly due to being overly ambitious. I am generally reading about two and a half books a month, so if I assign myself four or five for one month, I am setting myself up for failure.

However, this would not be enough to get me as far behind as I am. That is more a matter of literary promiscuity.

I am not saying I have no standards at all. Every now and then I get a crack at a book that I turn down. (The last two were The Time Travelers Wife and Requiem for a Dream, based on flipping through pages and seeing that I would not enjoy them), but usually, I'm not really a "no" kind of girl.

Let's examine the start of my "months" going awry. I finished Perfectly Legal on August 27th, indicating that I started late. I was supposed to get to What's the Matter with Kansas next, but Julie had checked out Last Words, by George Carlin, and I had to read that. We love George. I got back on track, finishing Kansas and Free Lunch in September, at which point I figured I would be bleeding into October, but still done before November started and it was time for Native American heritage.

Well, then a dear friend loaned us two books, The Big Year by Mark Obmascik and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Obviously you have to get loaners read, and then my sisters also checked out Who Killed my Daughter, by Lois Duncan, because it was true crime, and recommended by Ann Rule, and set in New Mexico, which they had visited. I enjoyed all of them, but I did not get through The Wrecking Crew until November 4th.

That was still not that awful, and since I finished Wealth and Our Commonwealth on the 12th, there was no reason not to start on Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee right away, except that The Unthinkable (Amanda Ripley), had just come through after being on hold. Around then, I also found out a certain friend was in jail, and I really needed to read Losing My Cool (Thomas Chatterton Williams) to see if it would be good for him (and it was--he's been loaning it to the other prisoners), plus I needed to read Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow (which I cannot send to him because it would be too depressing). Oh, and there was this one book that I thought would be good for a newsletter I needed to write, and then my sisters checked out this Rob Sheffield book, and then his other book, and seeing Ann Rule speak led to both reading me one we already owned and us putting her new one on hold, which came through again. Add to that three other books that one or both of my sisters wanted to read, and one that a friend loaned, and you see how it goes.

It's just very hard for me to say "no" to a book (unless it's awful), and I do go looking for distractions everywhere. One of the most annoying things about those e-readers is that you can't even see what other people are reading. I mean, the last two times I chatted up guys on public transportation it was about books (speeches of Malcolm X and Qigong). I mean, how am I supposed to get my flirt on?

So yes, I do get sidetracked along my reading path, but that's okay. For one thing, in most of these cases it is because of my sisters or friends, so that just gives us more connection, and more things to talk about.

Also, no matter how many books I have not gotten to yet, each book adds to the whole--and they do relate. So Katherine of Aragon was Ferdinand and Isabella's daughter! Of course! Or, oh, that tradition goes back to 18th century maritime trade. How interesting.

The destination keeps jumping farther out, but it's a good journey.

20 minutes walking inside
Crunches
Matthew 7 - 12