How come I have not been reading?

Reading has always been a joy for me, at least since the 2nd grade.

Like a junkie who needs a fix, I read books one after another, and I’m consumed by my love affair with the printed word.

But every so often, I go on the wagon and stop reading for pleasure.

I watch television, play on my computer for endless hours, and read only as a matter of necessity.

I’ve been reading very little in the past month, for a number of reasons:

-The weather has been very cold, snowy, and icy. It’s been an unusually cold and wintry month in Seattle. Walking and just getting to and from work has been difficult. When I get home, I just want to wrap myself up in blankets and heavy sweaters and veg out in front of the television.

-I applied for, and was offered, a promotion at my job. I’m suddenly way too busy at work, and as my new job is administrative (instead of clinical), I’m surrounded by the printed word all day long.

-The holidays. Buying Christmas gifts, spending time with my family, and eating way too much food has dulled my brain.

The weather is finally clearing up a bit, and I’m considering a book to read for fun.

Finally!

Time to embrace reading again.

Books and childhood

I went to see Iron Man today (I loved it by the way, except why do movies portray brave women wearing ridiculously high heels? Yes, I know, sex sells, but geesh), and on the bus ride home I was thinking about my childhood.

At night, before bed, my younger brother read his comics, and I read my books.

And that’s all we had to read.

There was no internet, no CNN, no IM’s or chat.

If I wanted to check out a specific book at the library, I had to physically go to the library, look the title up in the card catalog, then find the book.

These days, I go to my public library’s website, see if my branch has the book in stock, then go pick up the book. If the book I want is out of stock, I place an electronic hold on it and the library sends me an email when I can come pick it up.

I stopped by Borders today, on my way to the movies, and saw the new novel by Geraldine Brooks, People of the Book.

As of five minutes ago, I’m hold number 348, but there are 100 copies of the book, in my city’s public library system.

How different from my childhood, when holds were filled out in person at the library, and a postcard notified me that the book was finally mine, at least for a few weeks.

I’m nostalgic for the good old days, like all of us are when we think of pleasant memories.

But I sure like electronic library holds, yes I do!

Word junky

I’ve always been in love with words.

As a child, I spent many happy hours reading, mostly fiction.

I discovered Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie in high school, and my addiction to books and reading became full blown.

Now that I’m (much) older, I try to read as many different kinds of books and magazines as possible, but reading mystery stories is still my drug of choice.

This blog shall be about my reading habit, my love affair with words and the way authors arrange words to tell their stories.

Here’s what I’m reading right now:

• Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, June 2008. This issue contains a beautiful remembrance to Edward D. Hoch.
• Kindred, a book by Seattle writer Octavia E. Butler.
• The May 5, 2008 issue of The New Yorker, which features an Annie Proulx story, “Them Old Cowboy Songs.”

Last night, I finished Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein.

All of the above titles are in book and magazine form, but I must admit that I am a slave to the internet.

In the past few years, my reading of real books has decreased a bit, I’m ashamed to admit, because I’m so enthralled by the words written on blogs, web sites, and news channels. I rarely read an actual newspaper any more.

So I will also be blogging about what I read on the web, blogs and web sites that focus on reading, words, writers, stories, and new books.

Happy reading.