When Jesse bought me a Kindle for Christmas this year, I was delighted. (Give him credit for listening – I’d been whining for it for over a year). I had no idea, however, that in the three short months I have had it, it has become as indispensable an electronic device as my cell phone and laptop. They’re gonna yank my hippie credentials any second now.
I’m a voracious, ferocious reader. When I was a little girl, my family would vacation in the car, like everyone else in the 60’s, and I would position my book under my leg to sneak reads while I was supposed to be sightseeing. When I was in high school, I had several books stashed in my locker just in case I finished one during the day and needed another one before I could get home or to the library. As an adult, I keep books all over the place – in my car, at work, in the bathroom, in the laundry room, in the kitchen, so that I’m never without the ability to grab a quick read when I have 90 seconds or so.
When my kids were little, I made them a simple promise about books: anything they wanted to read, I would buy for them. (I didn’t factor in porn, and I guess they were too young to see that loophole!). When we designed our house, in a very real sense, I structured the inside of the main living area around the bookshelves, upstairs and down.
All this to repeat: I love reading.
Here is a non-comprehensive list of the books I’m currently reading:
On the Origin of the Species, by Charles Darwin
Walden, by Henry David Thoreau
The Problems of Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell
The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability, by Lierre Keith
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia, by Elizabeth Gilbert
Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond
The Greatest Show on Earth, by Richard Dawkins
The Chalice and the Blade, by Riane Eisler
Those include books on my Kindle and traditional editions, but they don’t include those books I have already read, to which I’ll occasionally go back for a chapter or two; that list is enormous.

I’ve just reread the list and I realize I don’t have any fiction in there. I enjoy fiction – I’ve recently been devouring Nelson DeMille, especially his John Corey novels. I’m just not reading one right this red hot second.
Share your books with me – I like nothing better than to have a book recommended to me!
Thanks for reading!
March 19, 2010 at 8:06 am
I know its not deep or intellectual, but I’m reading the new Stephen King. And I gotta say, its classic King, back to his creepy gory style that he hasn’t done in a while.
March 22, 2010 at 4:15 pm
King was one of the authors I read devoutly during college – I just loved scaring the hell out myself! I remember Salem’s Lot, Carrie, Pet Sematary and couldn’t wait for every new book. Then I got into his short story collections, and learned to love his non-horror work. Shawshank and Green Mile are two of my fave movies, too!
March 19, 2010 at 8:25 am
I finished the book on Randy Pausch, “The Last Lecture”, about a month or two ago. Need to find another good one like that.
March 22, 2010 at 4:21 pm
How moving was Pausch’s book?! What a touching lecture! You might like Marlely and me (the book was better than the movie), Tuesdays with Morrie…I’ll give some thought to some others in that line you might like!
April 1, 2010 at 10:25 pm
AWSOme-ness. Thanks for the suggestions. So why has it been about 3 weeks sincce the last blog maam’. Life calm after the storm? Lol
April 1, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Awsome suggestions. Why is it 3 weeks since your last blog? Calm after the storm ? lol
March 19, 2010 at 9:28 pm
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. Most of my reading these days, weeks and months is prescribed for my doctoral courses. However, I keep a stack on my bedside table also …even if it is to moon over. The Didion book is one I’ve already read, but go back to from time to time. Interesting read – non-fiction – well written.
March 22, 2010 at 4:24 pm
You are the third person to suggest the Joan Didion book, so I’m in! I’ll see if it’s available on Kindle, or if it’s one of those I’ll read “Old School”! How much longer on the doctoral coursework? (and a return to you of your own choices for what you read!)
March 25, 2010 at 8:03 am
My graduation trajectory is May 2011. I have one course this summer, 2 next fall and 2 next spring. It has been, without a doubt, the hardest thing I’ve ever gotten myself into. It has been invigorating, at times, but these days it is more about “just keep going ’cause you have too much of yourself invested at this point.” Pretty burned out and looking forward to the summer. FYI – David retires from his gig at Whirlpool on May 31, 2010 (Aaron graduates May 15 and David graduates 2 weeks later). It is a time of change for us. David is working on developing a LLC and we are looking to build a house at Fripp Island, SC, sell our house here and buy a small condo or house here while I continue to teach. We want to get together with you and Jesse sometime this summer.
March 23, 2010 at 4:35 pm
You probably don’t even know this but you got me hooked on Steven King at UGA. I was at your apartment (before we were roomies) and I picked up Dead Zone. I was sucked in almost immediately and read everything of his I could get my hands on after that.
April 3, 2010 at 12:11 pm
No, I didn’t know that! Glad I could be the one to introduce you to the horror that is King! I haven’t read his stuff in years, but I vividly remember the ones I did read. Two of my fave movies are Green Mile and Shawshank.
What are you reading now??
March 25, 2010 at 12:20 pm
At the very moment, I’m not reading anything, but one of my most recent reads that I thought was really wonderful is The Noticer. I have it on my Kindle and in hardback. Sometimes, it’s just nice to flip the pages. I recommend the book for anyone who needs to get a new perspective on life.
April 3, 2010 at 12:13 pm
I know you are as avid a reader as I am, Steen. Let’s compare Kindles next time we Coffee it up…show me a clever trick I don’t know about yet!
March 29, 2010 at 6:31 pm
I have so much reading with my Master’s right now but I have been re-reading some of my favorite Dick Francis novels. He passed away last month so I brought a bunch of his paperbacks down from upstairs and have them piled in my bedroom. He was the Queen Mother’s jockey in Great Britain and all of the stories feature horses — either as main plot points or small ones. In one of the essays I read after his death, Dick Francis’ writing was described as “Literary comfort food. You know what you’re going to get and you like it.”
April 3, 2010 at 12:15 pm
So if I were to select my first Dick Francis novel to read, which would you recommend?
April 6, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Couldn’t help but add to your discussion – hope no-one minds. I think I may have quite different taste in reading from what you guys are saying, as some of the authors you mention I haven’t come across.
I tend to write more than I read these days, one of the hazards of the job I guess – unless of course you count reading masses of news! – but there are a few writers I absolutely love. Tom Wolfe, one of the creators of ‘Gonzo journalism’ is a must for me. Both he and Sylvia Plath I find have the most amazing descriptive ability – painting with words is the only way to describe it. But far less onerous than Dickens who I can’t abide, even though he is a local boy…
If I find I want to improve my writing though at any stage, then a quick read through (again!) of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey always does the trick!
Happy reading everyone!