The "To Be Read" List

Reading is something I do a lot of.  I read a variety of things, non fiction, cozy mysteries, Science Fiction, Fantasy, comedy.  I have several books on the Nook that I have been trying to get around to finishing for a long time now. 
The only explanation I can give is that I haven't felt like concentrating that hard on anything lately.  I've read a lot of fan fiction online, and usually only short stories at that.  I am partway through a mystery from an author that I really like.  I usually fly right through the books, but this time I am going more slowly. 
In the "To Be Read" or "Currently Reading" lists right now:

To Be Read:
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Widow's Tears by Susan Wittig Albert
The Violinist's Thumb by Sam Kean
A Friendly Game of Murder by J.J.Murphy
Help Thanks Wow by Anne Lamott
Death of Yesterday by M.C. Beaton
Sweet Tea Revenge by Laura Childs
The Blue Bells of Scotland by Laura Vosika
The Minstrel Boy by Laura Vosika
Shadow Show  - various - Stories In Celebration of Ray Bradbury
Guy Noir - The Straight Skinny by Garrison Keillor


The "I'm reading a little at a time " list:
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
Shakespeare's Sonnets and Poems

Currently Reading
(and trying to finish at least ONE.)

The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie
The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
The Mole People by Jennifer Toth
William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher

The Sound of Broken Glass is another of Ms. Crombie's excellent Gemma James/ Duncan Kincade mysteries.  The plot so far is good and engaging.  I just have not been able to concentrate on one book at a time lately.

The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean is a wonderful and somewhat whimsical look at the history of the Periodic Table and the elements thereon.  The story behind the science is even more fascinating than the science.  Taking this one in small bits in order to digest it properly.  Been awhile since I have done serious reading.

The Mole People by Jennifer Toth.  I started this one because it is about REAL people living in tunnels in New York.  It is no fantasy, and these people have very difficult lives.  True, these are the stories of people in tunnels near the surface, not deep ones like the world Below is supposed to be in Beauty and the Beast.  It is interesting to read the stories of the homeless in this book.  It is also difficult.  Many of these people are addicts, or ill, or maybe just a bit insane.  As much as it interests me, I can still only take bits at a time right now. 

William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher is just plain silly fun.  It is the first Star Wars movie - A New Hope- told in the style of one of Shakespeare's plays.  It is very tongue in cheek, but true to the plot, and so far quite amusing.  Don't know if I would find this treatment of my beloved Star Trek to be as funny, but maybe, if it was the right episode and done the right way.  Star Trek has a lot more serious purpose to it than Star Wars ever did anyway. 
My mind has refused to settle much at all in the last year or so. I do a lot of reading, but I keep switching around what I read.  This is not typical of me at all.  I usually start a book, especially a work of fiction, and just keep reading until I finish it.  (And I sometimes can do that in  just a day or two, depending on the book.)   I have been working on The Mole People for about a year now.

I am hoping to discipline myself to get in the habit of reading at least a chapter a day of these four books until I get where I want to read a specific one first, and then just finish that one.
I have had no trouble reading Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse Mysteries when the new ones come out, because those books just grab me and pull me right in from the beginning.  Got Billionaire Blend on preorder so I can read it as soon as it comes out.

Just putting all this here, in writing, so I can hold myself accountable for doing the reading I really WANT to do.  My girlfriends say my lack of concentration is related to my time of life, and exacerbated by the recent tornadoes, but I think it's just a phase I go through every now and then.  After several years of intense reading of book after book, my mind demands a vacation.  Happened right after college.  I got a degree in Liberal Studies, which meant I took a lot of literature classes, and that my history classes all involved a lot of reading.  So did sociology and psychology.  After I finished that very intense five year degree with teaching credential, I was tired of reading very dense material for meaning and insights.  I stopped reading so much, and once again read fan fiction or other short stories for a long time before my brain was ready to read anything long or intense again.

I am hoping to write coherent reviews of the books I am reading as I finish them.  I will endeavor to put those reviews on this blog.

Back to The Sound Of Broken Glass
As Ever,
Katie