Tuesday Things (on Wednesday)

I'm a day late with this post, but I have always been a procrastinator. As many of my friends know, I am a huge fan of LibraryThing.com, and as part of the Book Blog Roundup there, let me tell you a little about myself and this blog.

First, me: I'm 42, so I should know the answer to Life, The Universe and Everything, but sadly, I do not. I'm a graduate of Kent State University and currently I work for a product testing laboratory. Basically, we break things. I'm in sales, but when I started here they promised me that I would also get to break things. So far I have only broken the laser printer, but I have high hopes. I have one cat, a lot of bookshelves and a fine collection of knitting needles. I also have a nice yard and a hammock, where I do a lot of reading in the summer. Have you ever noticed that you can't really do anything productive in a hammock? You're flat on your back, balanced rather precariously, and there is no way to do anything important...other than read.

As for my books, I have a lot of them. I grew up in a family that valued reading, with the sort of parents who not only didn't mind if I read under the covers with a flashlight, they would actually check the flashlight to make sure it had good batteries. Wouldn't want me to strain my eyes after all. I have a fairly long commute so I do a lot of my reading by audiobook. Anyone who wants to argue that this isn't actually reading is cordially invited to kiss my ass. What book lover does not have fond memories of being read to as a child? It can be a marvelous way to experience a story.

And last but not least, my blog. I can be very casual about my reading. Hmmm, that was good - and on to the next book. Right now, there are over 100 books in my "to be read" pile, and it's growing all the time. Still, that doesn't mean I shouldn't be thoughtful about what I read. Writing reviews and posting them here gives me a chance to really think about what I've read, why I liked or didn't like it, what was really important about it. It's also a great writing exercise - I love to write and I don't always get to do the sort of writing that really makes you think and leaves you satisfied. I hope this blog will do that for me.

One final comment: a cousin of mine passed on a huge compliment to me recently. She said, "I have books that other people have loaned me that have been sitting on my shelves for months, but every book you have loaned me, I've read within 10 days." How nice to think that I could do the same for some of the people reading these reviews.