Reading

I have been reading the last couple of days. And each day I have gotten a pretty bad headache on the right side of my head. The strong, bright light is on my left side. I wonder if that could be reason. But the a ton of the pain is in the neck region. So it may the angle at which I read. I am quite upset. Does this mean that I can't read without getting a headache? I may just cry if that is the case.

I have been reading The Mortal Instruments series. I have been enjoying it. It's easy, which always fun, but it does deal with good and evil a bit. The way the author, Cassandra Clare, deals with good and evil is interesting. She even makes room for the grayer shades. She asserts that only demons, at least in this "world," are the only really evil things. Anyway, I think I may read the books again just to see if they would stand the test of time before buying them.

Happy New Year!

We haven't done a ton yet this year seeing that it has just started, but we did institute a new family practice.  We are going to start reading at the dinner table.  Our kids take forever to finish their meals.  Peter reads a bible story and then I read a story.  I read some of the Jungle Book this evening.  I will continue reading this until it is done.  I haven't made an entire list for the year for family reading, but I have started making a list for myself.  I have started Animal, Vegetable, Miracle for now.  This year I am starting out small.  I want to complete 20 books.  Stating this for all to see I hope will help me to keep to it.  I need to do make a goal for family reading.  I want it to be reasonable so I don't get discouraged.  I guess 10 books would be reasonable.  Now I just need to figure out what all they should be.  Both Peter and I like the idea of reading classics.  And I would like to add some poetry into the mix.  

I am bravely going to take on reading The Closing of the American Mind, but I have been warned that it may take more than a year to complete.  I also would love to read some more C.S. Lewis, and not the fiction.  I also want to finish Celebration of Discipline.  That's about as far as I have gotten.  I should put some real thought into this.

I suppose I have just made a resolution, it seems more hopeful, not as much like a sentence as resolutions tend to be.  If anybody has any ideas I would love to hear them.  

What no TV will bring

We have been without TV for almost a month. For quite awhile before we canceled cable I was not interested in reading. My usual books did not inspire me in the least. I believe that I got lazy. Not pretty, but that's what too much TV will do. It makes ones mind lazy. I was fighting my kids to do the reading required by their teachers.

So after a month I have found myself in the middle of one of my readfests.(Not a word, however I have no other word for it.) I realized that I was reading at a stop light the other day. No, it was not a good idea and it was definitely unsafe, but I was happy to have that feeling again. The one where you can't get yourself out of the story and it would be a tragedy of unknown proportions if you can't finish the book before moving onto other tasks, yeah that's the one!

Interesting things have been happening around my house the last couple of days. We have all been reading. Yesterday after church while reading and holding a sleeping Esther on the couch I looked up and all three boys were sitting in front of the fireplace reading. Sorry, I didn't get a picture, because I was too busy reading. It was such a cozy atmoshpere. We had the fire on (we have gas fireplace) the dog was curled up in front of the fireplace on her pillow and the boys were all reading. Peter was reading his birthday book.

So, what book inspired this about face? Alexander McCall Smith's The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency. It is a nice happy mystery novel with no violence and no sex. It's not hard, but it's delightful. I have since read up to number 5 in the series. I plan to read the rest before testing my brain more with more difficult fare, which is in of it.