You know what else makes me happy? Books. And talking about books with other people who like them. Yay new bookclub!

I mean, come on, really

There are times in today's culture when we are not given an opportunity to allow our imaginations to roam, fill in spaces and gaps based on our own experiences and expecations, anticipate what happens next, who dunnit, etc.

This happens all too often in movie trailers that give away so much of the movie you feel like you've already watched it.

Sometimes reading the back of the book means you are practically told the entire plot of the novel.

Spoilers of television shows are rampant on the net.

And then there are is this book blurb:

Michael Ondaatje’s eagerly anticipated new novel, Divisadero, unravels a haunting story that ranges from northern California to central France, introducing characters who become part of our own lives. Divisadero brings together all of the elements for which Michael Ondaatje’s fiction is celebrated.

What the? How am I supposed to know what the book is about and whether or not I want to read it? Come on people!

And yet I am intrigued. Darn you Ondaatje book people!

Cataloguing my books

This is a cool thing; a LibraryThing to be exact.

I started creating a list of the books I've read recently after being sent this list of "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die." I've only read about 60, which isn't bad, but considering I have my M.A. in English, I probably should have read more. But the titles are not really in my genre. Most of them I had read for class or attempted because I thought I should probably have read it because of the degree. Whatever. Now I read what I want, when I want. Right now I'm on a slow reading period. But it will get better soon with Christmas just around the corner and a list waiting to be filled with books and all the other goodies I like to get at Christmas time.

Anyway, I digress. It would be cool to catalogue all the books I own, as I could then export the info and when I move, I would instantly have a list of all my books. But the time!! I always think of cool things to go, but they take time people. Time that I can't seem to create more of, so need to spend more effeciently. But often, these kind of lists and "organizing" task are fun.

Slow books

Patricia Storms over at Booklust posted this question recently:

And so my question to you is...

Have you ever had a time in your life when you just could not get yourself to read, even though you were surrounded by books?

This has happened to me so often since my M.A. it's almost like a sickness. One of my theories is that I had to read so much during school that I got overloaded, and when my brain wants something to chew on, it'll let me know. And lately, it's been too busy processing work stuff to take in anything else. Thankfully the recently formed bookclub that I have joined has been wonderful.

So far we've read 3 books:

The Time Traveller's Wife
Breakfast at Tiffany's (I actually had to get crib notes for that one, sad isn't it? I cheated on my bookclub read), and
Pope Joan

All interesting books that gave us a lot to talk about. I'm the facilitator for the Pope Joan reading, and I'm totally procrastinating. Hello! That's my middle name.