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Welcome to my snarky corner of the web. Join me as I discuss everything from wine to chocolate. There may be a few other topics mixed in there too. I talk a bunch about my amazing offspring, 24 and 21. I sometimes go on and on about my secret crush on the amazing Mike Rowe. I talk about things that irritate me or things that make me happy. Sometimes I just talk to hear myself talk. Feedback is always appreciated but please make sure it's respectable. No nudity or profanity. I'm the only one allowed to be profane. But any and all snark is welcome and appreciated!

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Getting kicked out of book club...

I'm in a book club. Well, it's more of a wine club with books involved. I use my book as a coaster so I don't put my wine down on a slanted surface and spill it. That would be tragic.

Technically, I'm supposed to actually LEAD a second book club because I received this Book in a Box thing where they sent me 8 copies of a book and some wine, hats and jelly. Yes, jelly.

There are 18 ladies in my neighborhood who wanted to participate in my book club. I gave the book out to 8 ladies, they each read the book and passed it around in December to the other 10 ladies who wanted to read the book. All 18 neighbors read the book. I didn't.


My copy of the book is sitting on my nightstand, closed and collecting dust. Not a single word has been read. How do people have the time to read? I used to read. I used to be a reading fanatic! Seriously, I read like a maniac. My appetite for books rivaled John Pinette's at an All-You-Can-Eat Chinese Buffet! But then...kids. And then.....internet.

Let me tell you about my reading habit: Last summer I spent a week at the beach in Jersey and I read a Patricia Cornwell book from cover to cover. Why? Because I had very little internet access and I had ZERO activities scheduled with my girls. I got up in the morning, ran on the boardwalk, showered off the sweat, threw on a bathing suit and hit the beach. I read for hours on the beach, came home, showered, ate and read some more.

When I flew to San Antonio, I read for about 4 hours straight on the flight down (we made a refueling stop in Memphis which is why I had that extra hour to read). I read more than 200 pages of my book (another Patricia Cornwell book, by the way). I was alone on that flight down and didn't have to talk to anyone or drive anybody anywhere or be at a school or a gym.

I LOVE reading, and yet, I don't do it NEARLY as often as I should. Thanks kids and internet!

I'm also a creature of habit. Given a choice between an author that I've read dozens of times, and an author I've never heard of, I usually play it safe and go with the familiar. Sometimes that works, sometimes it comes back to bite me in the ass. I read Gone Girl last spring at the suggestion of several hundred people on the internet. I loved the first 9/10's of that book but hated the ending. And it was really hard to develop any type of feeling for any of the characters, because I wanted to slap the shit out of all of them. But I sucked it up and finished it, and then someone said "Oh you should totally read Dark Places" which is another of Gillian Flynn's books. Let me just tell you, that book is aptly titled. Holy shit, that was the darkest book I've ever read (and I grew UP on Stephen King books!!). Seriously, another book with characters I couldn't stand.

I totally need to get my book club books read. Totally. But my house is a mess, my kids have 2-3 basketball games each week along with practices, trumpet and saxophone lessons, volleyball. And then there's Face(timesuck)book. I may be in need of an internet rehab. If I try to quit cold turkey I may need meds. Or a straight jacket.

What books are you reading now and HOW do you find the TIME to read??




26 comments:

  1. I have had the exact same experience. There was a time in my life when I read 5-7 books a day. No kidding! Now I'm lucky if I can get through a book a month. When I do read it's mostly right before bed.

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    1. I can barely keep my eyes open to read more than a page!

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  2. I like books that have pretty pictures......deeeeerrrrrrrrppp

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  3. I love to read and lead my renegade book club. i will ignore everything and feed my kids taqitos for dinner if I am sucked into a good book. I also stay up until 4 am to finish a book. Read in the carpool line, whenever I am waiting anywhere. I am old school and onl read BOOKS with pages to turn. no e-readers for me.

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    1. I'm with you on the e-readers. I like a good book, crack open the spine and feel the pages between my hands!

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  4. This is your librarian since childhood, Theresa Ann (Yes, yes, I know I am supposed to call you Teri- it's the 'since childhood' thing)......Go to the library, get a card, down load or check out their audio books/e-audios.....Listen/read while you are in the car, running, doing the dishes, cleaning the house, etc....OR....buy audio books from Amazon....OR...there is a company called "Simply Audio" (it's Netflix for audiobooks)....If you really want to read, you will find a way :)

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    1. DrMolly-You are Awesome! The end
      Love,
      A Fellow Librarian

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    2. Hey Dr. Molly, I actually DO have a library card and have borrowed countless books!! I just need to lock the door and tune everything out and just read!!

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    3. Good....folk with library cards give me job security.....And, thanks to your fans/followers for the kind words.....And, now I'll tell my favorite story about you....Shortly after I got married Eddie, we moved in next door to you, your mother, and brother.....I think you were maybe 6 or 7......One morning you knocked on the door and said, "Hi Molly, can Eddie come out and play?" I've laughed and laughed for years...you are one special woman, Teri!

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    4. Eddie was always such a big kid to me! MUCH fun, and very many fond memories. Thanks, Molly! <3

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  5. I love to read and lead a Christian Fiction Book Group through my church (not always Christian and not always fiction). I read books like my kids play video games. Once I get into it, I can't get out until it's done. I concur with Robbie - my kids will get frozen pizza (I do cook it) when I've lost in a book. I just read The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans for my book club (a quick read and uplifting book about redemption). I am currently reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (about an autistic kid who's trying to solve a dog's mysterious death.) I just bought Cary Elwes' book, As You Wish, and John Cleese's, So, Anyway. Both are my next reads. Sometimes you just have to make the time because it's 'you' time. And you definitely deserve that!

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    1. You had me at John Cleese. I love him and want to read his book!

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  6. I read all the time now that my girls are older (15&11) and my house has turned into an Apple warehouse and Xbox/play station and every other game system going *sigh* I have the hubster downstairs watching tv, both girls have got cable tv in their bedrooms too, although they are normally face timing friends or chatting to them via Xbox (even worse their friends come over so I'm definitely hiding from them all) every once in a while the girls will come in for a hug or chat, then they're off again. Facebook gets irritating after a while so there's nothing left to do than make sure my kindle is loaded :) the girls have various after school activities everyday too so it's just me & my kindle lol

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  7. I just finished Joyland by Stephen King. It made me cry. Still Alice gave me a better understanding of Alzheimer's written from a fairly young person (50). I work on the internet, and go to school (full time) there too. But I need fiction every day to soothe my brain. So I fall asleep with a book every night.

    P.S. I love your librarian!

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    1. I don't think I read Joyland (can't remember). And I do want to read Still Alice (but I probably will just watch the movie). And I love my librarian too!! She's awesome!!

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  8. I haven't read anything, unless it was on a computer screen in years! MS robbed me on my concentration and ability to focus on much more than a recipe. :/

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  9. I've been reading Malazan: Book of the Fallen, which is a set of 10 hefty books. I think I started them about 18 months ago and I just started book 8. I don't have kids but my job, the internet, blogging and netflix mean I have about half an hour of reading each night before I pass out and sleep

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  10. I used to love reading too----it was my favorite thing to do every night before bed. But then I discovered the internet….and blogging…and dear god, FACEBOOK. So I still read…..I just read blogs and Fb status updates now, LOL!

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    1. At least it DOES still count as reading. Only now they are blogs and not books.

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  11. The good thing is that books will always be there if and when you want to read them. :-)

    XO,
    Pippi

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  12. I know it sounds bad but I never read books. Blogs and magazines yes, but I don't have the attention span for books. World War Z was the last one I read.

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  13. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who hated Gone Girl, although I hated 9/10's of it and found the ending to be the most interesting part. I constantly felt like smacking the main characters and didn't give a crap what happened to them. I would never read anything by Gillian Flynn again.

    I don't think I could ever stop reading novels, and now that my kids are teens I do what DrMolly suggests: I listen to them instead. It's a little expensive (I should check if Simply Audio is a better deal), but I download about a book a month from Audible.com. It's a little bit of an adjustment to go from reading the book yourself to being read to, but after you get used to it it's awesome. Many of the narrators are amazing and can really bring the book to life. Plus, if the author is English speaking but not American, you get to hear it in the proper accent. What I like best is that you can listen while doing the dishes, other household drudgery, exercising, etc., so you don't need to find time for it. I sound like a freakin' commercial, don't I?

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