For the love of books

My Indiana book club— miss you girls!

I went to my first bookclub in Iowa last night. I had been part of a bookclub in Indiana and really enjoyed it. Reading has always been one of my passions. I remember heading to the library as an elementary school student and actually coming home with a paper grocery sack full of books which I would then turn in two weeks later to bring more home. (How I physically got home with all of those books I don't remember!) OOOHH how I love libraries. The smell, the quiet, and the sheer excitement of all of those books just sitting there waiting for you to read them and unfold their story within. My mom can tell you stories of putting me to bed and hearing a click in my bedroom. When she'd come to investigate, she would find me with a book and a flashlight hidden under the covers. If I got caught there, I would then head to the bathroom for a long visit in which I would take my book with me. With that combo light/fan running, no one would ever hear me flippin' pages in there! What can I say—when you had to go to bed at 7:30, while it was still light out, and all the other kids were still outside playing, what else could you do? Well, there was also that thing my sister and I did where you would lift up the blankets and then "run" with your legs under the blankets to create sparks on the flannel ones... anyone? anyone? ...but that's for another day.

So, needless to say, I was very excited to be part of a bookclub again. We discussed The Time Traveler's Wife. It was good, though I would not say I loved it. It really was a literary feat for this author to be able to write this book and skip timeframes back and forth like she did. Our next book will be The Life of Pi. In the meantime, I am squeezing in a quick 1,072 page book by Stephen King— Under the Dome. Ya know, just a quick read. I have read Stephen King for as long as I can remember. I have always admired his wit and humor, which if you've never read Stephen King, you probably don't realize permeate his books outside of the scare factor. However, his style/characters/names have become so familiar to me, it almost feels like I've read this one before and some of the excitement is gone for me. But, I have been a loyal reader for so long, I don't feel like I can give up on him now. I do love that feeling of well, I suppose, this COULD happen that you get when you read one of his 'wild and improbable tales'. Anyway, if any of these wild and improbable things ever do happen, I consider myself well prepared.