A Full P.O. Box

Well friends, today was one of those fantastic days at the Post Office.  Our P.O. Box was filled to capacity with everything I’ve been waiting for.  Barbara Walter’s memoir Audition, Joshua Henkin’s Matrimony, Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes, Bon Appetite Magazine, Washingtonian Magazine, Vanity Fair Magazine, and my Martha Stewart cooking tools from Macy’s!!!!  Whew!  I am feeling a bit indecisive about where to start first.  I just finished flipping through the mags and have read the first page of each book but I don’t know what to dive into first.  I will probably start Matrimony this evening because that’s my assignment for Planet Books and no matter what I think I might do I usually do what is expected of me and that would be to read and finish Matrimony first.  I was just so excited about all my “presents” that I thought I’d share.

Reader’s Block

Have you ever found yourself looking at your bookshelves for the next book you are going to read and just feel stumped?  I have picked up four or five books in the last two days and have quickly placed them back on the shelf because I just wasn’t feeling a connection at this time.  I feel a little lost without a book to read on my nightstand but I have gotten a lot read in my magazine tray on the coffee table. 
What do you do when you find yourself with a bad case of “reader’s block”?  What is the longest length of time yours has lasted and what was the book that broke the spell? 

Another One For The READ Shelf

I just finished Diablo Cody’s memoir, “Candy Girl ~ A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper”.  Diablo Cody is the screenwriter of the independent film, “JUNO” so when I saw her memoir, “Candy Girl” at the PX I couldn’t help but put it in my shopping basket.  Cody shares her adventures as a stripper in Minnesota for a year.  She starts out being a curious twenty-five year old who thinks it might be interesting to see how “the other half lives” and ends up leaving the skin industry after burning out in her fourth strip joint.  Though it had it’s funny and quirky moments there was a lot of very graphic detail about customers and what she did to herself and to them for money. 

For the most part this book was entertaining and a light, quick read.  I wonder if a movie will be made of it though.  It would be pretty interesting if it was. 

Now I’m back to trying to figure out what my next reading adventure will be.  I might take a break and read some of the mags that have been waiting patiently for my attention on the coffee table though. 

She’s Come A Long Way

I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing “Juno” yet but as soon as it’s available on DVD it will be in my hot big hands.  I loved the screenwriter, Diablo Cody’s acceptance speach at the Oscars last month and I have read a few of her articles for Entertainment Weekly and really enjoyed her writing.  So when I came across her memoir, “Candy Girl ~ A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper” at the PX, I couldn’t help myself and placed it in my shopping basket.  The PX doesn’t usually have a very interesting book selection so when I do see something that catches my eye and it means I won’t have to wait on the USPS and Military mail system then I buy the book.

 

So after finishing “St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves” yesterday morning, I decided to go in a totally new direction and took “Candy Girl” off my shelf and dug in.  So far it’s entertaining and Cody’s voice is familiar and relatable.  Nothing too exciting has happened yet but I’m only on page 38.  I’ll let you know what I think when I’m done.  I feel good about all the reading I’ve gotten in lately.  I’ve really tried to read more than just at bed time and it’s great. 

My Must Have Reading Matierial

We are counting down the days till we make the long pilgrimage home for the holidays next weekend.  I have been busy preparing things that I need to bring with me such as gifts for friends and family, craft projects I have to finish there becuase that’s where the Joann.com order is being shipped to, the iPod playlists, and reading material for the flights/airports.  Though I have some Ambien for the long flight from Tokyo to Chicago (Okinawa to Tokyo and Chicago to D.C. are each only 2-3 hours) I have heard stories of the Ambien not working and if that happens to me on the long flight I need to be prepared.  I am still reading “The Pillars of the Earth” but am hoping that my December issues of Elle Magazine, Vanity Fair next weeks New Yorker arrive in time for me to take them.  Each time I go to the store I have to turn away from VF & Elle and remind myself that my copies are on their way. 

There was a book I flipped through a few years ago called “So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading” by Sara Nelson.  Nelson is now the Editor-In-Chief for Publishers Weekly.  Sara challenged herself to read a book a week for one year (2002).  She says that people asked the same question all the time.  “How do you choose your books?”  She wrote, “Less than a week into my project, I can now tell them the beginning of the truth.  I don’t always choose the books, I’ll say.  Sometimes the books choose me.”  I completely share this belief.  Due to what you are experiencing in your life at any given time can influence what you choose to read. 

I have an idea for a “project” of my own and will post about it soon but for now, I would like to ask you this question:  “Can you make it through the week without picking up a book and reading even a little bit?”  I sure can’t!  It would be impossible in the place I am in, in my life right now.  I love to read, learn and explore our literary world.  I have always loved to read and hope to always love and enjoy this wonderful gift we as humans are given.