Average Girl Reads

I have my doubts about finishing A Suitable Boy before it is due back to the library on 11 May. Right now, I'm only on page 38 of this 1,349-page tome. The story isn't bad, but so far it hasn't hooked me enough to make me choose it over watching TV when I get home from work at night. Most of my reading is done outside the home on my lunch break or while waiting for a ride, but the size and weight of the book makes it too unwieldy to carry in my purse. This is one book that I wish my library had in an audio version so I could listen to it while I work.

Several book bloggers have recently mentioned I Capture the Castle as one of their favorites. I thought it was a new book and was surprised to find that it was published in 1948. This brings me to my dilemma: do I check out the 1948 original edition or the 1998 reprint? That may seem inconsequential to most people, but for me reading a reprint of an old book is like watching a costume drama. The modernized cover and the fonts that publishers favor these days make it difficult for me to think of a reprint in the context that it was originally written. Strangely, I don't have that problem with something very old like a Shakespeare play. It is only with books written in the latter half of the 20th century. I think it is because my local library had lots of old books in it when I was a kid, so I grew up reading books that were printed close to the year of the original publishing date (for instance, a 1950 edition of a book published in 1948). I may just avoid the issue altogether and check out an audio version.

I haven't done much reading since the last time I posted to the Sunday Salon. There is a chunkster of a book on my bedside table that is slowing my progress. The book is A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. I chose it as my next book from the 1001 Books list. I feel guilty reading anything else when I have that book staring me in the face every day, but I still haven't started it. With over 1700 pages, it is too heavy to carry in my purse. Yet, if I leave it for reading at home, I may not finish it before I have to return it to the library. A quandary, to be sure.

So what have I been doing instead? I've been reading magazines that I've gotten through free subscriptions. I never gave much thought to the idea of outgrowing a magazine until I started reading Cosmo again. As a married woman, there is very little for me in this magazine. Cosmo is all about seduction and little tricks that men use to fool women or vice-versa. When I was a teenager, I felt sophisticated reading Cosmo. Now I just feel like I am beyond it. I hate to admit it, but I guess I am more the Woman's Day type.

READ: I read Frindle by Andrew Clements. Books aimed at middle-schoolers and above are a refreshing change of pace from time to time. This one is about a kid who makes up a new word for a writing instrument to see if he can get other people to use it. If you had a favorite teacher in school, then I would recommend reading this one.

LISTENED: I listened to two books this week. One was Denis Leary's Why We Suck. The only way I will even consider a book by a comedian is if it is the audio book version read by the comedian himself. I've tried reading books by comedians and it just doesn't translate well for me if I can't hear the comedian's voice. Luckily this one was read by Leary himself. I'll tell you now that there are several bits that will offend people; I skipped those and listened to his stories about growing up, which are priceless. The only non-family story I liked was about Oprah.

The other book I listened was Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. I know, I am late to the party on this one :-). I tried reading this book once before, and I am glad I gave it a second try. Pollan has convinced me more than any other book that I should try to eat less processed food. I am a major junk-food junkie so that is a big deal for me. I would love to recommend this book to some of my friends, but I'm afraid most of them would find it dry.

The Pollan book was my first audio book downloaded using Overdrive. The selection of books that capture my fancy isn't huge, but it is nice to have the option. I typically run out of stuff to listen to on Wednesday or Thursday, and we don't make our library run until Monday. Now I can download something on Thursday night. Maybe I'll even try listening to mysteries, which my library seems to have a lot of.

UP NEXT: Besides A Suitable Boy, I also have Twilight on audio, but I can't bring myself to start it. There are some trends that I eagerly follow, and then there are others that make me run in the other direction; Twilight is the latter. Even my daughter M, who loves to read and embraces all of her friends' suggestions, couldn't get past the first chapter. However, my other daughter C1 loved it. I guess I'll have to read it eventually as part of my Good Mommy duties.