Books I Read in February: 2011 Edition

People often ask me how I read so much. Well, first of all, I don't read that much.  Second of all, that question ("How do you find time to read?") is a veiled accusation that I don't take care of my kids so I always ignore it. Like how I ignore my kids.

But seriously folks, here is an example of how I might spend the afternoon reading. It is, in fact, what I did today: I l rested in Ellen's bed and she put a doll on me. She wants to be a "baby doctor." She doesn't know all that it implies. She thinks the worst thing that could happen to her as a baby doctor would be delivering a bald baby. She hates bald babies. Nevertheless, she pats my stomach and I lay there and read a book until the baby is ready to "hatch." After it "hatches" I tell the doctor that I'm weak and need to rest up. I almost read a whole book today during my hospital stay. She rarely naps anymore; I have to improvise.

Early in the month I read The Passage by Justin Cronin. It's kind of like The Stand but with vampires and it is awesome and realistic--even with the vampires.

I got really into this book and was blown away that anyone could think of the story and the details. It made me think about society and what would happen if we were mostly wiped out and if the few survivors didn't pass down stories because they thought what wiped them out was too gruesome and awful to share. Those remaining people would really be at a loss. That happens in this book. It's quite popular among humanities-types like my self to value the oral tradition in theory but this book really made me understand the value of it (still in theory, I guess, since this book is fiction and, you know, about vampires). It also makes me worry about how valuable I would be in a post-apocalyptic-type scenario. I'm thinking, not that valuable? This book is the first in a trilogy and I'm happy to be on board.

Then I read Tim Gunn's Guide to Quality Taste and Style. This lightened the mood.

Tim's a doll. His books are always a treat.

Slaone Crosley is funny. Read her book.

She's the kind of person you want to be friends with in real life. Except, she's kind of a curmudgeon and would probably hate you. Like me! Just kidding.

I read I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron while we were in St. George. She's great. She says your neck goes wobbly at age 43. Yikes. Oh well. My plan is to go really gently into that good night.


And then I read the wonderfully quirky Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris.

It's weird. And funny. Bless his heart. He inspires me.

A very quick and very funny read is Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander.

It's funny because it's true.

I started The Hidden Gifts of the Introverted Child by Marti Olsen Laney a few weeks ago. But it was hidden under a bunch of stuff on my nightstand so I just barely finished it. Get it? This book is so useful to me in parenting my kids. I like to read parenting books of all sorts but often the approaches just don't apply to me or my kids. This is gentle and makes sense. My kids are introverted and they need much more encouragement then discouragement. Things always go worse with them when I decide to get hard core and focus on punishment. But then I feel guilty for being a softy. But that's what my kids need most of the time. So I like this book a lot.


What should I read next?

PS The Passage, How Did You Get This Number, and Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk all have some swearing in them--in case you want to avoid that.