Wednesday Update

It’s been entirely too long since I posted and, let’s be honest, it isn’t as if I got off to a strong start the first time so…let’s just ignore the false start and pretend like this is the very beginning.

First, I want to say that I’m back in school finishing up my Bachelor’s in English Literature (and seriously considering double majoring in European History, ahhhh!!!), so some of my reading selections will be assigned reading. For example, I am currently reading Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, which I had never heard of, and was unlikely to read otherwise, but which I am completely loving. LOVE. Tears in the first couple of chapters, can’t get enough of these characters, wow this writing is amazing, how did I not know about you kind of love. If only every class introduced me to at least one book this fabulous. (I can say that my last class brought Graham Greene and W. Somerset Maugham into my life, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be the same!)

Not really sure just yet where I’m headed after my BA is done. Either a Masters in English Lit, followed by a doctoral program (ideally) with the end game being a job teaching university at some point OR a Masters in Library Science and a Masters in English Lit or History with the end game being a librarian. Either way, it’s all about the books my friends. All. About. The books.

For pleasure, I am currently reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, and enjoying both. I plan to review these, so I don’t want to say much other than, they have both been on my TBR list for a year or more and I’m so excited to finally be reading them. I read The Fault in Our Stars last year and I’ve been watching the Vlog Brothers since long before that (and how sad that until last year I didn’t even know that John Green wrote books, but maybe that’s because I’m nearly 40?!?), and I really, really love John Green. And The Magicians had me within the first 16 pages (I literally thought I had found the book by which all other books would be compared for the rest of the year), but now the tone has changed and I just don’t have ANY idea how I’m going to feel about it at the end. So, that’s my reading life at the moment.

If you’d asked me a few years ago, I would have told you that a) I don’t believe in reading more than one book at a time and b) I’ll never really get into reading ebooks. Obviously “a” is no longer true as I’m currently reading THREE books at the same time. One is assigned reading, so there’s that, but in the past six months or so, I’ve really gotten into the habit of reading two books at once: one ebook and one print. This occurred primarily because I like to read in the bath, but I don’t think electronics and large pools of steamy hot water go well together. You may disagree with me on this point, but you also don’t know what I spaz I am so…yeah, I’m not risking it. Anyway, due to this dilemma, I got into the habit of picking a different print book for bath reading and then, bam…the past few months at least, I’ve got two books going at once at pretty much all times.

As for the ebooks, I’m still not at a 50/50 split, but I’m slowly heading in that direction. I still prefer a physical book, but the reality is, I can check out a library ebook from the comfort of my jammies at 10pm on a Sunday, and while they don’t have as vast a collection online, I generally don’t have to wait as long to get my hands on the book that I want. And don’t even get me started on the ebook sales.

But don’t get me wrong, I usually hit the library once a week, and I buy books at my local bookstore and the used bookstore. See, I like to throw my support in every direction. I’m an equal opportunity book lover. 😉 *

*Except for audiobooks. I don’t get the appeal. In the “is it reading or not” debate, I’m in the NOT camp. Because reading and listening are two different things. When I read my 4 year olds a book, I don’t say THEY are reading, they have been “read to”. Not that I’m bashing audiobooks or people who love them, I’m just saying “reading” isn’t really the appropriate verb to describe what’s going on there. You can read with your eyes or with your fingers, but you can’t read with your ears. Just sayin’. 

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