Obsessed with Books

That's me.  I have one in hand to read at home and one on pause in the car for the drive to work.  Heaven forbid they are similar.  Then I am mightily confused for a few minutes until the plot moves to the surface of my brain and I am fully engaged.  While I prefer reading words on paper, shifting the book slightly as I turn to the next page, there are times when a really good narrator can leave me breathless with suspense. 

I am not sure how I feel about technology offering a different, less tactile way to peruse words.  I can see the benefits of eReaders on a long plane trip.  It is compact and can hold a plethora of books.  I assess my stash when I travel, shelving heavy tomes in favor of several thinner ones which can slip in my bag.  As one is finished, it is left at the airport or on a train for another person to pick up.  That is part of the pleasure of books.

Just as I prefer not to 'smarten up' my phone, I am resistant to embrace yet another generation of computer-driven machines which move me away from my page turners and have me staring at an impersonal screen.  Sitting at a computer most of the workday, exploring the web occasionally at night is enough for me.  Not saying I might not give it a whirl someday when faced with an eight hour flight - I am just saying...


I just finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  It was riveting.  I took Friday off to work in the garden - such clear blue, fantastically bright summer days are a treasure and I don't waste one of them.  In between battles with tenacious weeds, I sat in the shade with a glass of Lady Gray iced tea and read.  I started it on Friday and finished it Sunday afternoon.  It was hard to put down.  You must give it a read.  It has made me more than ever aware of my blinders.  Sometimes I can be so unaware.  I want to know more - I want to learn about other cultures, other lives.

I applaud friendships which develop between unlikely partners.  I am saddened by the reserve I observe in those who prefer to limit their involvement - sometimes for the whole of their lives.  I abhor the injustice that man heaps upon man in the name of righteousness (and I don't mean the religious kind).  Our relationships are complex and are the result of the effort we put into them.