Today I decided to give myself a bit of a reading break and read a much shorter book than the one I read yesterday. And I'm so glad that I did, because it was a busy day, and I still feel a little bit burned out from pushing the limits too far yesterday. Reading tip dear readers: don't try to read a book that's almost 400 pages when you're really busy and haven't slept much. I woke up this morning with a reading hangover and turned to face my to-read stacks and thought, But I just read a really long book yesterday. I can't possibly be expected to read another book today. And, since not reading a book today wasn't an option, I went to the next best thing, reading a short book that has really short chapters.
Today's book, "What was the title of the first book you fell in love with as you sounded out the words on its worn pages? Was there one that really changed the way you think about things, whether you first read it in high school English, on a blanket at the beach, or under the covers with a flashlight? A good book can truly change our lives, altering the way we look at the world and challenging us to experience the unknown. Sometimes it is love at first sentence, and sometimes there is a single character so real that he or she stays with us long after we've turned the last page. In The Book That Changed My Life, our most admired writers and public intellectuals discuss the books that matter most to them."
Shallow thoughts:
- Today's book turned out to be the perfect one to read today. It was thought-provoking, interesting, and each essay was so short that it was really easy to do a lot of other things in the middle of reading it. So if you're the kind of person who doesn't have a lot of spare time this book would be perfect for you. And I learned something very interesting from reading this book, Kitty Foyle wasn't just a movie, it was also a book. I've been obsessed over the last few months with searching for the kind of books from the 40s and 50s that were made into old movies (because if I don't have time to watch an old movie during the day, then I'm going to read one.)
- My favorite essay was written by Elizabeth Berg in which she discusses the book that made her a writer. I think I enjoyed this essay so much because I remember the exact book I read that made me want to be a writer, which just so happens to be a book that I've read for the blog this year (do you see how I just casually slipped that in there, as if I haven't spent the whole day plotting out ways to shamelessly increase my page loads by putting up links to past entries - ahahahahah.) The book that made me want to be a writer was Little House in the Big Woods, and I still think of that book (and the entire series) as being totally magical.
- Favorite sentence, "I read it until the pages fell out - and once again I speak literally." - I've only done that with two books. If you guessed that one of them is a Little House book then you are correct dear readers (oh you, you're such a good guesser.) The other book was A Voice of Her Own by Marlene A. Schiwy, which I have not read for the blog, but I have read another book by that author for the blog, so I supposed it's shameless plug time again.
