What I read

Welcome to my blog! I'm just starting to throw this together, so bear with me while I figure out just what I'm doing. I thought I'd start with a post about what (and how) I read. Some people think I'm a little crazy when it comes to reading books, but, really, there is a method to my madness.

I usually have about 6 books going at a time. Crazy, I know. But here's how that all works out.

Book #1: This I consider my "main" book, even though, really, I probably spend almost the least amount of time reading it. This book comes from my official bookstack (which is really my half of my husband's and my 3-shelf bookcase in our bedroom), which, at the moment, is arranged alphabetically by title and consists of adult (as opposed to children, not porn) books. I generally just grab the next book on the shelf when I finish a book, but I am a little flexible. For example, I will read the next in the series if I have it available and really liked it, or if my husband is very eager for me to read something, I'll substitute it for the next book on the shelf. I read this one at home, whenever I want to pick up a book. I generally give a book about 50 pages before I put it aside and pick up something else. Currently this book is Gates of the Alamo by Stephen Harrigan.

Book #2: I read this book over lunch at work. This book, like book #1, usually comes from my official bookstack. The one exception is that I use this book to give a 2nd try to books I have put aside. Sometimes I have a hard time getting into book #1 because I'm trying to read it after a long day at work. Sometimes the book is too wordy and puts me straight to sleep. Reading it at work sometimes helps, because I'm not going to go to sleep, and it's the only thing I have to read. I've given new life to books this way and been able to finish them after all. However, if, even in this setting, I find myself drifting (or in the case of one book, rolling my eyes), I'll give up on it. Currently this book is The Fort at River Bend by Jack Whyte, the 5th in the Camulod Chronicles.

Book #3: This is the book I read for NIBS (Noses in Books, what our family calls the 30ish minutes of silent reading time we enjoy together before bed). My current modus operandi for this is that this book is listed on the list of books for the Name that Book competition at my husband's high school or that it is one of this year's Texas Bluebonnet Books. Most often this is a library book, but if I can't find a book available at the library from one of these two lists, I will read one of the children's/YA books in my personal collection. Currently this book is The Misadventures of Maude March by Audrey Couloumbis, from the Bluebonnet list.

Book #4: This is the audiobook I listen to on my commute. This is almost always fiction, and often it is something more pop fiction-y than I typically read in print. It can also be series books, because I hate to spend a lot of time finishing a series when there's so much other stuff I want to read. Right now I have some books saved in my audible.com wish list that are from the Name that Book list that aren't available at my local library. Currently I'm listening to Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. This book is on the Name that Book list, but I would have listened to it anyway, because I love Jodi Picoult's books, and they make for great audiobooks.

Book #5: I keep this book in my bag to read when I'm waiting for the shuttle from my parking garage to the building in which I work. I'll also grab this if I'm going anywhere where I know I'll have to wait (doctor's office, haircut, etc.). There's no real rhyme or reason to this, but books that are broken up into short segments are perfect for this. I've read a David Sedaris book this way, and am currently reading the 3rd in James Patterson's YA Maximum Ride series, Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports.

Book #6: Last, but not least, this book is the book I read to my kids for bedtime. I try to alternate between suggestions from my 10-year-old daughter and my 9-year-old son, but sometimes I'll read something I find that I think they'll really like. Currently we're reading May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson, on my daughter's recommendation.