My Head Is Full of Books: When reading does NOT go as planned

"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Thursday, October 15, 2015

When reading does NOT go as planned

The windy road of reading. Bookish (and Not So Bookish) Thoughts cross-linked at Boisterously Bookish.

Often my reading plans do not progress the way I envision or plan.

Case in point:

October 1st- I checked out from my library I Crawled Through It by A.S. King and Shadowshaper by Daniel Perez Older. Both books being under consideration for our Mock Printz list and I wanted to finish them before I met with students. I decided to start with I Crawled Through It as I knew less about that book than the other. Because I wanted to read something when that book wasn't nearby I also started Shadowshaper a day or so later.

October 8th-I highlighted I Crawled Through It for my Friday Quotes (Book Beginnings and Friday 56) even though I hadn't made much progress, yet. The very next day my daughter asked me if I had a book she could read and I loaned her I Crawled Through It, the very book I was reading.

October 8th-I refocused my attention on Shadowshaper. The genre Urban Fantasy isn't my favorite. Progress is slow.

October 9th- My hubby and I drive up to Mt. Rainier for a day of nature. But nature didn't cooperate and we found ourselves stuck in the Paradise Lodge due to a rainstorm. I pulled out the only book I had in the car to read while we waited out the storm, Hired Girl by Schlitz. I liked the writing style and ended up getting a fair chunk read during that time.

October 9-11th- While traveling to the mountain and back we listened to the audiobook, Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson about Shostacovich and the Siege on Leningrad. Both of us found the story fascinating and were able to listen to about 1/3rd of the book together. We continued listening every time we were in the car together that weekend.

October 12th-I continue listening to the Shostacovish book on my own and my husband starts the audiobook I had recently finished, Being Mortal by Gwande. He wasn't sure if he could hold two books in his head at one time, but agreed to try.

October 13th-I receive a book from the library which I've wanted to read for awhile, Popular: Vintage Wisdom by van Wagenen. I couldn't help myself and spent the whole evening reading it instead of Shadowshaper.

October 14th- I have to switch cars for a day and our old car doesn't play MP-3 audiobooks so I can't listen to my current audiobook. Therefore, I start the audiobook The Shallows by Carr for my commute that day. The end of CD one is garbled and I will need to find the print edition of the book or a different audio version in order to continue.

October 14th- I force myself to bear down on Shadowshaper. I read over 100 pages and am a breath away from finishing before I turned off the lights for the night. The second half of the book is very suspenseful. My husband reported that he is finding Being Mortal very good and wants to finish it before he continues listening to the other audiobook we started together.

October 15th (today)-I resume listening to The Symphony for the City of the Dead. Make plans for finishing Shadowshaper in the nick of time since I meet with students tomorrow.

In the course of two weeks I will have started six different books (including audiobooks) and have finished none. Sometimes reading plans do not proceed the way I envision them going.