Good Books

My aunt asked me to tell her about what I've been reading lately. I also made myself a book journal because I can never remember what I've read and I want to start recording it better. First of all, let me tell you a little bit about my reading philosophies.

I LOVE THE LIBRARY!

I truly believe it to be the happiest place on earth. And I'll tell you why. You get to be by yourself. No one bugs you with, "Can I help you find anything?" "Are you looking for something?" No, you go by yourself, you help yourself, and these days you even check yourself out (which is great since library employees tend to be slower than molassess!) And, the rules are to be quiet. How much more perfect could a place be that asks you to be quiet? I can't think of one. There are people there but they are all quiet. It's divine. You probably wonder why I would have selected such a "noisy" career if I enjoy silence so much. Well, I can't tell you the answer to that one. Maybe I love quiet more because I am around the opposite all day, who knows. I understand that having children will change that opportunity, but until that moment, I'm going to love the quiet when and where I can get it.

I love books on CD.

My mom has been swearing by them for years. I just thought she was crazy. Why would I want to listen to a book on CD? Boring! Well, I tried it out about a year ago for grins and giggles. It is fabulous! I actually look forward to being in my car so that I can "read my book." Of course, it makes me hate phone calls, short drives, and guests in my car, but otherwise, it's fabulous! I've been able to read tons of different things I never would have, just by listening to them. They do have a flaw because you can't skim, but you can skip! So sometimes, when a 10 CD book starts to wear on me, I start to skip through tracks as needed, but it usually comes out okay in the end.

Basically, though, I just love to read.

I wish I could do it for a full-time job. I like romance, historical fiction, some non-fiction (never thought I'd say that), some science fiction (something else that shocks me, I really only like the stuff written during the Cold War because it tells us so much about our country at that time), good self-help, and modern fiction. I used to be a big mystery fan, but I'm not so much anymore.

Anyway, here's my reading list lately-

For school:

Each month, my students are assigned an MRA (Monthly Reading Assignment) about either our history or reading standards. I usually try to read something that month along the same lines and without fail, it gives me something to talk about in class. This month the theme is WWII. And boy do I have a funny story about that. I went to the library earlier this month to pick up some books on CD. I picked up three, no questions asked, without reading any of the backs. All were nonfiction. I thought one was about the European front, one was about the Holocaust and one was about the Pacific front. Well, apparently, titles and covers can be deceiving as the European one was actually about the Holocaust, the Pacific one was about the Pacific, but the Holocaust one was about famous people who came from Hungary (so basically completely unrelated to WWII). Nevertheless, I did get some really good stuff to share with my students.

I listened to about 75% of The Zookeeper's Wife. Fascinating. It was about a family in Poland after German occupation and how they hid Jews in the zoo throughout the course of the war. I learned about how Germany took over other countries, what that felt like. I also learned about how it was to be liberated by the Soviets. It was LONG, but I got the major gist of the story.

I listened to the first and last CD of First into Nagasaki. Too graphic and horrific and it turned out to be about the severe POW camps in Japan. After a few statistics and descriptions, I had about enough of that. But I got some good stats to share with my students about fighting in the Pacific and the effects of the bomb in Japan.

I didn't get past the first CD of The Great Escape, because I just got WWII'd out. I'm planning to head to the library on Monday, so I'll probably pick up some fun things for me.

For book club:

For this month we read Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. It was okay. It did have a good message about the power of women coming together and being there for each other, but it was pretty predictable. I don't want to go into it more in case you haven't read it yet or might in the future. However, if you don't care, let me know and I'll tell you the big kicker and when I knew how it was going to end.

For me:

So my "for me" list is usually pretty short. Because I'm so tired, I usually don't need to read to sleep during the school year. Plus, I'm usually putting school and book club stuff first. But right now I am reading Sex Begins in the Kitchen (I can't remember the author's exact name, but he wrote the Birth Order books). A book I borrowed from my dad. Yes, my dad. It actually should be called Love Begins in the Kitchen, because then I could carry it around and not feel like a nympho and I wouldn't feel like I need to censor my discussion around some friends. But it is FABULOUS! I recommend it to anyone! I've even read some of it to Jason and I think he's planning to read through it after I'm done. (That is VERY bizarre for him.) It is about improving your marriage and how you need to know each other outside of the bedroom to even think about having anything in the bedroom. I also like how it's written by a good Christian guy who is saying things that Mormons have been saying for a very long time. Wow, maybe we aren't crazy?!? Maybe we do know something about marriage and families? I don't know, just maybe.

I also started #3 in the These is My Words series. Which I didn't even know there was a #3, my mom lent it to me. I loved #1, but hated #2, so I'm not too motivated. I'm not sure why she needed anything after #1, it was so good.

So, there you have it, my reading time for the last month. Happy page flipping to you!