My Reading Corner

There's nothing like tucking under a poofy duvet on a rainy day with a brand new book to escape into. Well.........I can think of a couple of others, but this post is about books and not sexual fantasies, so I best stay on track.

Breadbox tagged me to write a little something about my reading preferences. So......here it goes.

My reading -- compared to my incessant reading habits a couple of years ago, the amount of time reading these day is miniscule. Having kids never stopped the flow of books I would pick up and devour. In fact, I remember one day when my daughter was only a couple of weeks old and a fuss budget about nursing. It seemed like she couldn't be satiated. Instead of fretting over trying to put her on a nursing schedule at that point in her tiny wee young life, the two of us stayed in bed one day. I propped her up on me with one hand and propped up a hardcopy of the Roddy Doyle Trilogy (the Commitments, The Snapper and The Van) and read and read and read. My kids were used to sitting on my lap with me reading. I guess I've always been a multi-tasker at heart.

Since I took up writing again, my reading habits changed drastically. For a while, I basically stopped. I lost interest in fiction completely (though it's slowly returning thank God) and began to read books which filled in the blanks of my emerging faith. I found myself reading books which fed my writing. Non-fiction became the preference.

I also learned quickly that a writing mind is the complete opposite of a reading mind. I had no idea.........A writing mind is a yearning churning place of contemplative word jumbling. It's a busy interactive place full of sparks clashing together to form new ideas and new sentences, which in turn sends messages to the motivation centre to "get thee to a keyboard and write thy thoughts down, dammit"

Whereas.........

A reading mind is a calmer contemplative sensory stimulating centre where focus and concentration pull you into another world.

I love them both, but these days.............they compete for my attention and time. Right now, the writing is winning out.

Total number of books..........I'm not counting. Books adorn our walls and shelves and nooks in most every room. My husband, an avid reader extraordinaire covets his books. I don't dare take them into the bathtub with me. eeek!

Last book read AND bought.........Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconnelli. I plan to write my thoughts on this gem of a book later in the week. I also received an interesting book for my birthday.........and its FICTION.......it was purchased for me because somehow I have found myself intrigued and emotionally connected to a little Channel island and the book was highlighted last spring in a local book review. I haven't cracked it open yet, but intend to this weekend.....It's entitled...."The Book of Ebenezer Le Page" by G.B. Edwards. I love his name.

An aside??????????? I have a sketched out story that has been sitting with me for over 5 years about a woman named Myrna Hawking who lived on one of the Channel islands next to her neighbour Basil Cogswell (names I have seen on mailboxes around here and loved them). They are getting on in years.......life is boring until one night someone in their village is murdered and left on Basil's front lawn. Myrna convinces Basil to throw the cadaver into the deep freeze so that they can take on the investigation. She's watched every Helen Mirren and Inspector Morse shows......Anne Perry has nothing on her.........she knows enough to solve the murder.

Hilarity ensues........

hmmmmmmmmmmm maybe I need to apply for a CANCON research grant to head over to Guernsey to delve into life there so I can write my book?? Will look into that. :)

So, I'm looking forward to learning about Ebenezer Le Page. I dont think he solves a murder but I think he unveils some secrets.

Five Meaningful Books..................way too many pop to mind. So like YOU Breadbox, I will use categories.....and a stream of conciousness format.........

when I was a kid and adolescent.......

Anne of Green Gables, Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Go Ask Alice, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,.......Harry the Dirty Dog.

when I was a young adult.......... The World According to Garp and all other early Irving novels, Leon Uris, Ken Follett, the Thornbirds, all Jane Austen, all Henry James, Roddy Doyle, Anne Perry, Maeve Binchy, Vanity Fair, Of Human Bondage, Anne Tyler, Adrian Mole age 13 and 3/4

As a student, which I guess is ongoing...........Sanity Madness and the Family -- R.D. Laing, Growing up in New Guinea -- Margaret Mead, Absurdist playwrights.....Albee, Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter, all of the Jeeves books by PG Wodehouse, Alderian psychology, Jung and Freud....... these are the ones I am thinking right now.....oh, and Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goldman.

As a parent? Harry Potter, Goodnight Moon, Chicka Boom, Paperbag Princess, Something from Nothing............

Now..........Awareness by Anthony de Mello, Travelling Mercies by Anne Lamott, All wonderful books by Henri Nouwen, What's so Amazing about Grace by Philip Yancey, and the latest Sue Townsend Adrian Mole story and every now and then.................The New Yorker.

All have been meaningful and all have fed my curiousity and hungry desire to learn. And as soon as I click on post, I will think of 25 more titles.............that I've read and that I want to read.

How about you????

This is where I'm supposed to tag five others................ready? Rainbow Dreams, Princess Sarahdipity, Imaginations in Unity, Matthew at Common Misadventures, and Truly talented Tori.

Ready.........................look forward to reading your picks.

Thanks nice Breadbox. It was fun.