My books.....

I have been in a reading funk for the last few months.  If I do read, it's only in fits and starts.  My rate of finishing books has dropped off precipitously.  Not a good thing for a librarian.  The causes?  I'm sure it's a number of things.....busy at work, busy at home, the distraction of the the computer (especially Facebook), and, more recently, a change in jobs.

I look at my pile of books and the list on my Kindle.  I can say that my interest in acquiring books has also waned a bit. Since I'm not traveling to hockey games any more, I'm not stopping at Borders on my way home from weekend games.  I went to BAM which bought out the nearest Borders for the first time last week.  Unfortunately I was on a mission and didn't have time to browse. 

Now I have found a couple of books that have captured my interest and I hope that the current trend is reversing itself.  Over the weekend I finished "Left Neglected" by Lisa Genova.  I read a very big chunk of "The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain.  They are both excellent reads with very strong protagonists. 

I started "Left Neglected" the weekend before because I knew I was going to see the author speak mid-week.  Well, like Genova's first hit, "Still Alice," I was sucked in by the story and main character.  I sailed through the book. Genova knows her stuff and can convey a medical condition very well from the sufferer's point of view.  She is an excellent speaker and the opportunity to hear her talk about "Left Neglected" was a treat (made even more special by dinner beforehand at my aunt's house with my Aunt Gert, cousin Patti and sister Maureen).  In the Q&A session after Genova's talk, a woman in the audience who has Left Neglect told the author that she "nailed it."  I'm not going to say anything more about the book, because you need to discover the background and meet Sarah, the main character, on your own.  Thanks, Lisa Genova, for re-awakening my need to read. 

So, now it's off to bed to continue with "The Paris Wife" and to reacquaint myself with my huge stack of books at my bedside and the wonderful collection on my Kindle.

Disappointment....

Oh, I should have watched "Downton Abbey" tonight.  While it was a great game, the outcome was such a disappointment.  Everyone is saying that the Patriots will be back next year, but that doesn't dull the ache any.


So, it's off to bed while dreams of what could have been dance in my head.  Thank goodness I have a good book to turn to.  I highly recommend Paula McLain's "The Paris Wife."  It's an excellent distraction...hard to believe that it's fiction.  The author really gets inside of Hadley Hemingway's head.  Oh, no wait a minute...it's a book about disappointments.  Well, then, I guess it's an appropriate read for tonight.

Hard to believe that I've neglected this for the past year. Why? Who knows? I just haven't been inspired to share that much of me outside of my Facebook postings of which there have been many. In this last year I've both connected and reconnected with many family members and friends. Just a week ago, we had a most successful reunion with relatives on my mother's side, the Mynahans.  We had more than 100 on hand, ranging in age from 3 months to early 90's. Too much fun - both in planning the reunion and in the day itself.   In fact, we've already set a date to start planning the next one. My generation has taken the lead in planning. It's been easy for us as we all live within a couple of hours from each other. For the next generation, it might not be that easy. They're scattered far and wide across the country. Hopefully there'll be ways to have virtual reunions.

Two weeks ago I had a high school class reunion. Again, half the fun was in the planning. It was great to see old frineds and to get reacquainted with other classmates that weren't a part of my circle in school. I think one of my classmates put it so well - "We all shared spending a certain time in a certain place and I think it was important that we did not let this moment in our lives pass without our celebration last Saturday. It was great to see us all connect - not as who were were in high school but rather as who we are now." Thanks, Jim, for finding just the right words.