Slacking Off

Not that I haven't been reading. Far from it. But when I read many books at the same time, I don't finish them as quickly (laws of physics, nature of time, etc. being what they are). Today, however, I proudly finished My Antonia, by Willa Cather. Lynne loves this as one of her favorite books, and a number of other people remember it as one of the most boring books they ever read. I can explain that: this is a book for people who like Little House on the Prairie, and not for people who don't. Rarely can the world be divided so clearly along those lines, but this book's audience is quite clearly Those Who Revel in the Pioneer Spirit and Enjoy Small Heartwarming Farm Life Anecdotes. Including moi.

I also grabbed Einstein's Dreams at the library. I was many times thwarted in my quest for this book; I own a copy, somewhere, which I can't locate. My sister owns a copy, somewhere, which neither of us can find. The Somerville West Branch Library claims to have a copy, which neither the librarian nor I could find on the shelf. The Somerville Main Branch has a copy, but because of the holiday weekend and some bizarre scheduling decision to generally be closed on Tuesdays, it was "in transit" when I went to pick it up. So now, here, I finally have it in hand. I will read it, and all book club will revel in my insight.

I also went a little nuts when I went to the library, ostensibly to pick up the book that WASN'T THERE. So I got three others. Protecting the Gift, which is Gavin de Becker's follow-up to The Gift of Fear, which was a pretty cool if overly unnerving story of how if we trust our instincts we're less likely to be mugged. I don't think that's wrong, exactly, but my instincts tell me to be afraid an awful lot, and they're almost always wrong so far.

I also got something called Baggage which is about someone on the run from the law, but looks like chick lit, which seemed like a good combination at the time. And I got an Ursula LeGuin book that practically jumped out and bit me, called Gifts. It was on display, and I should read Ursula LeGuin, right?

Double extra plus, I just got an email from Adrian, who got the book I wanted in England (it's not out here), and will be bringing it home soon. It's called George and Sam and is about a mother with two autistic sons. Nick Hornby loved it. Thank you Adrian! Hooray for you!

I am feeling pretty darned sated.