Currently, where I’m at is the bedroom. Cross-legged on the floor beside the pack ‘n’ play. Trying to take at least a half an hour break from the wee babe. Can hear Dad playing downstairs with him and all seems well.
I’ve been reading far more than I had thought would be possible with an infant. One of the advantages of spending a lot of time in bed trying to get said infant to nap or sleep. The upside to having a somewhat particular wee man. Baby has also been a boon for my social life. Have met some wonderful friends with babes close to the same age. Several of these new friends are also readers with similar tastes in books so I’ve been borrowing from their personal libraries and have been able to read quite a few great books gratis.
I started Good Omens by Neil Gamon and Terry Pratchet a day or two ago. It’s been a bit of a slog for me. So far, it reminds me a bit of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Witty, clever writing and unusual, interesting characters. Why the slog then? Dunno, but I suspect I favour narrative over cleverness. Not that this book lacks narrative, it just emphasizes clever dialogue more so. Perhaps that’s why I can enjoy such grand mediocrity a la Twilight et al. The story sweeps you along so that you don’t notice the blandness of the writing. Wine helps too. If I recall, I read the whole Twilight Saga at the cottage. Safe bet I was marinated for most of the read. I won’t pretend I didn’t enjoy it, I did. I also won’t pretend it’s the greatest story ever written. Come to think of it, why do I need to defend the extremes? Can’t I read something and enjoy it without having to defend it as art or dismiss it as trash?
Sidetracked. So Good Omens. Will continue to read it and hope that if I can gather some momentum, I’ll enjoy it a bit more. However, if I get to page 150 and am not enjoying it, I will invoke my right to PUT IT DOWN. This tooks years and years for me to learn. Not sure whether it’s stubborness, obsessive traits, or a need for completion, but it used to be near impossible to NOT finish a book once I’ve started. More recently, I’ve developed (with support) the ability to put aside books I’m not enjoying. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was the turning point for me. I really wanted to like it, but I found it dull. It seemed to be the perfect blend: Jane Austen type setting + magic = instant approval from me. Not so. And because the book was a very big one, I let myself PUT IT DOWN. Ditto Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth (don’t get me started on that one). Note however, I have nothing against large tomes. I love a good long book and am rarely daunted by page length. It’s just that books that length take commitment and I’m no longer willing to commit to less than stellar stories, simply because I started them.
That being said, guess I’d better figure out what I’m going to read for the Chunkster challenge and commit to a specific amount.
Time to rescue Dad.
The Reading Geek 