Monday, April 19, 2010

Reading and Driving Don't Mix

I waited entirely too long to start my book club book for April, "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. I was not terribly excited about the book, simply because I was not at the March book club gathering, didn't know much about the book and couldn't get it from the library (the one copy was being held hostage by a fellow book club member).

I finally downloaded it to my Kindle. As you read books on the Kindle, it tells you what percentage of the book you've read. Since you can adjust the font size, page numbers aren't really an option. Perhaps if I had had a paper copy of the book, 500+ pages would have meant a little more to me. I thought I could tear through it in a couple days.

As I started reading, I wasn't particularly drawn in. The vocabulary was advanced. I was using the dictionary tool on my Kindle multiple times on each page. But, I kept reading. And, I am so glad I did.

"Cloud Atlas" is a fantastic story, really a set of six stories, each told in a different way, set in a different time and each fascinating in their own right. Each story is connected but not obviously so at first. (I'll give no more details away, though) I really loved this book, and I highly recommend it. Just give yourself more than 3 days to read it.

(I adjusted my Kindle to the largest font and finished up the book on my way to our book club meeting...and was thoroughly reprimanded for it.)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Overdue

Well, true confessions, I did very little reading in March. It took me the whole month and then some to finish "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families" (a great read by the way). In fact, it was 10 days overdue at the library when I finally returned it. I figured it was cheaper to pay $2.00 in overdue fines than to buy the book...though I might buy it sometime in the future anyway. :)

I'm still working on "Getting Things Done", close to finishing. It's been a great book on organization. Now, if I could just implement all that I've read.

My book club book for April is "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. What an intriguing book! I'm only halfway and book club is tomorrow night, so I have some serious reading to do. I think I really like it but will wait for the verdict until finished.

We took our 10-year-old to meet Andrew Clements, one of his favorite authors, last week. Unfortunately, we got there late enough, it was standing room only. Between his talk (1 1/2 hours is a little long for kiddos to listen) and waiting to get our book signed, we were there nearly 2 1/2 hours, on our feet the whole time. That might have taken away a little from the enjoyment of the evening.

I want to jump on the "Spring Reading Thing" bandwagon but am a little late...and need to make a list.