Summer Reading

Ever since finishing my last book I'm happy to report I've been on a reading kick. That's generally how I read... in spurts. The timing is good because television is limping to the end if it's annoying and abbreviated season. In all honesty, I prefer reading to watching television but tv is just so lazy and easy to get caught up in after a long day. I tend to find interesting things to watch and even get obsessed with. I also find that when I'm stressed out I can't focus on a book no matter how good it is. If I'm in one of my reading kicks it usually means I'm pretty calm about life and that's a relief.

Several months ago a colleague kindly bought a copy of The Pillars of the Earth for me insisting that I'd love it. I read the first hundred pages, or so, and just couldn't get into it. I could see how it had potential and lots of effort was put into character development but... it just wasn't any fun. One character in particular was really bugging me. Worst of all, my friend would ask me about it every once in a while and I'd have to tell him I'd got caught up in some other book, which was true. I tend to do a lot of reading on planes these days. Trouble is, Pillars is a behemoth and I refused to lug it on and off planes so it's been sitting on my ridiculously overcrowded nightstand ever since. Well, I picked it up again Friday night and finally got through the boring stuff that was making me crazy. It's really picking up and I'm officially enjoying it.

In the mean time, over at Posy gets Cozy Alicia asked her friends for some light and fun reading ideas and her readers came up with some great suggestions. Reading their suggestions was almost as much fun as reading Alicia's posts, which, by the way, have been strangely absent lately. Hmm. I'm hoping she's ok and just off on a fabulous vacation with her dear Andy somewhere.

Well, I received a package from Amazon (sorry Shandon!) and here are some of the books I chose based on the suggestions:
I Capture the Castle
The Light Years
Garden Spells
The Enchanted April
The Sisters (Which, come to think of it, I believe I heard of on another blog)

I recently purchased a collection of Dorothy Parker Short Stories that Mom is currently enjoying. I've also been mooching books of other short stories. Mom and I have decided short stories make the best bedside reading but I've got my overburdened nightstand to deal with. I think I should make it my goal to turn off the tv this summer and instead turn to my nightstand for entertainment. In fact, despite the miserable heat, I think I'll go outside, grab a lemon off the tree, make myself some lemonade and read a bit more before retiring for the night. Sweet dreams!