Life's Too Short to Read Something You Don't Have to Read

Things have been a little crazy this week, so I've not finished any of the three books I'm currently reading. And I may have talked about this topic before, but one of my students reminded me of it, when he told me he just had turn in the book he had just checked out because he just didn't like it and couldn't get past the first page.

One of my favorite laments is "So Many Books, So Little Time." With than in mind, as an adult, I now subscribe to the philosophy that there is no reason to keep reading a book that you don't have to read. Sure, sometimes you have to read a book for school or work. You are forced to slug your way through something you really don't like, but we often have to do things we'd rather not. However, when it comes to pleasure reading there is no need to torture yourself. I used to think I had to finish every book I started. Not any more. A friend and former employer of mine always gave a book the 100 page test. If he just couldn't get past the first 100 pages, then he didn't bother to finish it. I don't even give it 100 pages. Sometimes you just know that it's not a good read for you by reading the first few pages.

Here are some recent reads that I just could not finish:

1. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - It's as dry as the dustbowl he was writing about.
2. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter. This was an audio book. I loved the first one, but just couldn't get past the first few minutes of the second one.
3. 48 Liberal Lies About American History (That You Probably Learned in School) by Larry Schwiekert (It's not that I agree or disagree that the 48 things he talks about are lies. It's just that his defense of his position is so dry and comes across as a convulted history text. I read one page 3 times, and I still can't tell you what he was talking about.)
4. Death of a Rug Lord by Tamar Myers. I've enjoyed all the funny books in this series, but this time, it just wasn't funny anymore. It was annoying.

Sometimes, you can't get into a book the first go around, but something compels you to keep trying. When this happens to me I usually try two options. First, if I can't read it, I try listening to it. This worked for a book called The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue. On the written page this story about "changlings" was so tedious I could hardly stand to pick up the book. However, I had just joined an online book club that was reading it and I felt I had to read it. So I gave the audio version a try. Somehow the reader managed to breathe some life into the story and I was able to get through it.

Other times, you just have to give reading it another try. This was the case with The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. There was a great deal of hype about this young adult novel. I was a teen librarian and felt I needed to read it. The first time I picked it up, I just couldn't get in to it. I guess it just wasn't the right time for me to read it. I had borrowed it from the library and couldn't renew it. The holds list was rather long for it. I figured I'd lucked out. Not being able to renew it gave me permission to not finish it. A few months later, I was out of work and I was also participating on a Mock Printz discussion group. You got it. The Book Thief was on the list. So I gave it another try. It turned out to be one of my all time favorites. (After all, it's the character's love of books that saves her life and you got to love a story narrated by death.)

So. . . while my friend Betty Bookworm says "Read Lots of Books" - I say "Read Lots of Books You Enjoy."

What are you reading?

Kenny and The Dragon

Kenny and the Dragon is an all animal version of the famous battle between St. George and the dragon. Written by one of the authors of the Spiderwick Chronicles, the tale tells the story of Kenny, a young bookworm rabbit who finds a new best friend in Grahame (like the cracker, except with an E) who is anything but your typical bloodthirsty dragon. Things are going great until one of the villagers sees Grahame and panics. The next thing you know Kenny's other good friend, George is tasked by the king to eleminate the dragon problem. Using his wits Kenny finds a way to give the villagers the show they are looking for, while not losing either friend.

This was a quick read, but if you are looking for something like the Spiderwick Chronicles, you should look elsewhere. This feels more like a lighter version of a Brian Jacques Redwall novel, rather than a field guide about fantastical creatures. (Grahame is the only fantasy type creature.) If you like dragons and would like a less violent ending to the story of St. George and the Dragon, give this book a try.


I'm listening to Tony Abbot's "The Postcard" and reading John Kellerman's "Bones. One is a young adult version of mystery noire and the other your typcial serial psycho killer. Might make for strange dreams if I actually slept.

What are your reading?

Let's Give This One More Try

If I had a personal secretary, a chef, a housekeeper, a nanny and a driver, I might be able to read everything I want to read, blog about it and get everything else done as well.

Enough whining! We recently completed a book fair at my school. Always a hard time for me, because I can't help buying new books. And I always spend more than I should. It's a good thing for the school though, as the proceeds go to the library.

So now, of course, my to read list is even longer than before.

Here are just a few titles I've added:

The Postcard by Tony Abbott
The Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse
Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Kenny & the Dragon by Tony Diterlizzi

And I'm currently reading Alfred Krop and the Seal of Soloman, 48 Liberal Lies About America (That You Probably Learned in School) and Bones: An Alex Deleware Novel.

I'll let you know how they turn out.

What are you reading? Please post and let me know.

Is it possible to read too much?

I recently signed up for a website called GoodReads.com. A friend sent it to me. It's a way to keep track of books you have read or intend to read, see what your friends are reading and get reviews on books. There is also lots of book related trivia - for those of you who like that sort of thing.

I sent the site out to some friends and they signed up. One thing they did not realize is that everytime one of your friends posts on the site, you get an email. For someone who reads a lot, that means I post a lot and then of course there's the catching up. I'm sure there's a way to turn off the emails. I don't mind getting the emails, but apparently, my reading buddies do.

In fact, I've come to the conclusion that I must talk too much, about everythign, especially books. And I'm thinking of crawling inside my world of books and staying there. It's not like I've been very good about keeping this blog up to date anyway. And recently, when something really bad happened to me, I realized I had no one to turn to - no one that is that wouldn't find me annoying. I guess that's because my friends are the book characters who accept me for who I am and even though they never call and ask me if I want to have coffee or see or movie - at least I know that don't just like me for when I agree with them or can perform a service for them. OoooooHHHHH - someone's having a lonely pity party. Guess I'd better go check out the self esteem/self help section of the library.

TTFN - at least until I decide whether or not my book opinions or worth sharing.

Sunrise Over Fallujah

I just finished this book. The writing is typical Myers - wonderfully well written. The man tells a compelling story. However, I was disappointed. While working on my MLS I had read Myers' Fallen Angels. Having liked that book I was looking forward to this one. Maybe it's because I'm a military spouse. Maybe it's because Fallen Angels was historical fiction for me and Sunrise Over Fallujah is current fiction. I just feel that on this one, Myers did not quite get the whole story. I do not believe war is glamorous. I was not looking for a hooah war story, but I do know that our soldiers have had positive interactions with the Iraqi people. It would have been a more balanced story if Myers had included that. When I started reading the book, I did not think that Myers was trying to make a political statement about the war, but maybe I was wrong. And, I sure wish the members outside the military community would get the terminology for Non-Commission Officers right. They are not noncoms. They are NCOs and anyone who has bothered to do a little research would know that. Ok - sorry. That's a personal pet peeve. If you can put aside your own thoughts about the war, this is a good book to read. As I said the writing is excellent. Maybe for my children, reading Sunrise Over Fallujah will be like my reading Fallen Angels

Getting Away is Deadly

I just finished Sara Rosett's latest Mom Zone Mystery - "Getting Away Is Deadly." Though Sara's character, Ellie, is an Air Force wife, I find that she experiences many of the same military spouse challenges as me and my fellow Army wives. While in the military, you have housing rather than a home. You frequently say goodbye to good friends. The military may ask you where you want to be stationed, but it really doesn't matter what you want. And FRGs, no matter the duty station or the branch of service, can be a challenge. However, murder is not a common occurrence in my routine. But, I do love mysteries. The aforementioned similarities make it easy to connect with Rosett's books. She's an excellent story teller. I enjoy seeing if I can beat Ellie to the solution. So far, it's about even. And the organizational tips are a plus. Maybe someday I will get around to using them.

Other titles in the series: "Moving Is Murder" and "Staying Home Is Killer."

What's on your summer reading list?

100 Days and 99 Nights

The second season of Army Wives (cable network’s highest rated show – so they say) has started and I find myself reading more military related books. My husband is big into military history, but I’m ore into military fiction, especially military family fiction.

I recently read “100 Days and 99 Nights” by Alan Madison. It is about a second grade girl who has to survive 100 days and 99 nights of her father’s deployment. It was a good read and I will recommend it to my students who have military parents. However, I was surprised to learn that the author was inspired to write the book after talking with children whose parents have been deployed. As a military spouse with children, I didn’t find the story to be typical of military kids. In the book, Esme’s father is an Army Sergeant. My experience has been that most real world Army deployments last much longer than 100 days and 99 nights. My husband assures me that it is possible for an army deployment to be a short one. I was also confused by the difficulty the children had in finding ways to help the war effort. Their teacher tells them about how children during WWII helped support the war effort. For some reason the children seem bent on finding the exact same ways to show their support, even though there are more modern ways of supporting the war effort than trying to buy bonds or gather scrap metal. Over the years since the Iraqi war started, there have been so many news stories of children and young adults finding wonderful ways to support the soldiers (greeting card drives, care package drives, sock and book drives, etc). I was surprised that these were not included in the book.

However the book does hit one issue right on target: the difficulty that children go through when a parent is deployed. Even for a young girl with a “can do attitude”, deployment is rough. Madison’s story shows these challenges and how children can work through them. He doesn’t try to make out like it’s easy, nor does he try to make out like it’s impossible.

While on the military book kick, I just started Sara Rosett’s latest Air Force wife mystery – “Getting Away is Deadly”. If you like mysteries and want some insight in to the life of a military spouse, her books are good, fun read.

And, even though I prefer fiction to non-fiction – I’ve also started “Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq” by Kirsten Holmstedt. I’ve just started it, but I suspect it will put my small every day challenges into perspective.

What are you reading?