I Cheated On Book Club. TWICE. **updated**

I proudly bear the title "NON-Book-Quitter"; and technically, I'm not a book-quitter. Even if I hate the book or disagree with the author's view or lifestyle....I honestly feel that this is how a reader educates himself, broadens her horizons, gains some sort of perspective on life, and improves his vocabulary. I have a couple books that throughout life I have simply put on pause for a bit with every intention of picking them back up sometime soon.

I am not even a cheater. I am a huge stickler for the rules. Any rules...well, except inappropriately labeled speed limit signs. At work? Follow the rules. At home? Follow the rules. As a classroom teacher...YOU follow MY rules. I have always been this way. I have been known to get in trouble now and then growing up for my attitude though...but a reader I have always been. I was that kid who got sent to my room as "punishment" and LOVED it. You mean I get to READ The Girl With The Silver Eyes or Babysitter's Club for, like, two hours straight?? SWEET. I get to sing along with a cassette-tape recording of WHAM Make It Big using my hairbrush as a microphone? Practice my AmAzInG dance moves alone in front of the mirror??? I could deal with this punishment.

So I thought I would just go ahead and get it off my chest now before the guilt and shame do me in. I cheated on my book club this month. Twice. I remember the day a few months ago when I stumbled upon a dilapidated copy of Anna Karenina by Tolstoy at an estate sale, knowing it was coming up on the list in a couple months, and HAD to buy it right then. Even if it meant using Elmer's glue to mend it....so how did THIS happen???

That's right. THIS ^^^ is now a stand for a baby monitor. It's the perfect thickness to get the book right at my eye level while my head is on the pillow.  :)

Needless to say, life is a bit different now. I don't get nearly as much time to read as I used to (which I couldn't be more giddy about...let's be honest), so when I DO sit down to read on that rare, much-desired occasion, I want it to be something I am loving to read at the time. Now...I have just put good ole AK on pause until I finish these other two books. 

                                           

Cheat #1: I bought this book because I follow the author's blog, and she is stinkin' hilarious! Remember when I said I don't always need to agree with the view or lifestyle of the author to glean something from it? This is one of those instances. These are the things I had to look past in this funny read: bad language, drama, and a strange obsession with taxidermied animals. What did I glean? Laughter so hard I had tears, an appreciation for the serenity of my own world and childhood, and seeing someone discover who they really are after a lifetime of not knowing. I had so much in common with the author...we are both native Texans, both a bit on the "let's just not eat" team during high school, and we both have the EXACT same fertility issue. I have never "met" anyone with it* but me. And I guess I haven't really met her...but it feels like I have.

(*And by IT, I mean elevated Antiphosphatidylserine IgM. How about THAT mouthful??)

If you can look past her sarcasm to appreciate her wit, and look past her foul mouth to appreciate the emphasis it brings to her humor...then you might enjoy this book.

 

 Cheat #2: A dear friend that I grew up with stopped by this week to meet Jake, and brought both him AND me a book. How thoughtful!!! This book above is turning out to be fascinating! The author has taken a mostly absent character from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, Mr. March the father, and written a novel from his perspective being away as a chaplain in the Civil War and his longing for home and his wife and daughters. The plot intertwines major events from Little Women into his storyline, which if I were that author...I could only imagine the research and cross-referencing that went into that! I'm nowhere near finished yet...still cheating on AK. But I will let you know my thoughts when I do finish.

**THIS BOOK TURNED OUT TO BE QUITE A READ! I loved it. This author does a great job explaining in her afterword how she researched and cross-referenced and took liberties. Some parts were very tough to get through, especially those having to do with cruelty to slaves in such a harsh time. While I know roots of racism still exist, it made me grateful for living in a time when things like that just don't happen much anymore. I highly recommend this book. :)

Will I read Anna Karenina?? Quite possibly...especially since I just confessed it to the world.

What are YOU reading that you can't put down????

~Peace~