There's just something about a really great story and a book that you just can't, no matter how hard you try, put down.I'm a lucky reader, mainly because I spent at least 45 minutes twice a day sitting on a bus during my work commute. It's the most amazing time to read. It's quiet. The bus rumble is quiet. We go up and down Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan is out my window. It's my time. My time to think. To pray. To decompress. To watch the sun rise over the water and set behind the skyline. And it's my time to read.
I could take the train to work and back. In fact, it might be even a little faster. But I wouldn't trade my bus time. Not for anything.
Which leads me back to my initial line. I love a good story. While I can't just read one book at a time, if I can find a book that draws me in, that makes me actually take a lunch break to keep reading, I feel like I've hit jackpot.
You know?
But it's hit or miss. It had been a few months since I'd found one of those books. Until last night.
I came home and was frustrated and cranky. I didn't feel like I'd done a particularly good job at work that day. I didn't really want to deal with the world. My life felt like it was in disarray. So I climbed in a steaming hot bath and opened a copy of "Blankets," by Craig Thompson, which an, ahem, boy let me borrow.
One day and 592 pages later, I feel like I'm just coming out of a good read fog. And it makes me so, so happy.
What have you been reading lately? What's your favorite book that just absorbs you? What should I read next?
Image via DazeyChic.
3 comments:
I'll have to add it to my list.
I felt that way about Life of Pi, which I finished a couple of weeks ago. When I picked it up, I thought I would struggle getting through it but that wasn't the case at all. Incidentally I started reading it while I was in Chicago and riding the train back and forth to places :) (but unlike you I don't get designated free time to read, so it still took a while to get through for lack of time)
OK. You absolutely HAVE to read "The Tender Bar: A Memoir," by JD Moeringer. It's sort of a coming-of-age book about a journalist. You would love it.
I also have "The Help" on my to-read list, and it is supposedly amazing.
Other books I've read lately that I would recommend:
"The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski
"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Houssani
"Three Junes" by Julia Glass
"March" (a sort of side story to "Little Women") by Geraldine Brooks
And I sent you an invite to Goodreads, a social networking site for book lovers. You put in books you're reading, add your comments, and rate them. Then you can peruse your friends' reading lists for ideas. ModernGal is one of my friends, as are a couple of book clubbers.
Happy reading!
A few (non-fiction) favorites:
"The Story of Sushi" by Trevor Corson
"Rivertown" by Peter Hessler
"Factory Girls" by Leslie Chang
"Wild Swans" by Jung Chang
"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver
"What it Takes" by Richard Ben Cramer
"The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman
Megan
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