Free Time!

I had almost 4 hours of reading time today. I'm up to page 115 in The Other Boleyn Girl. I'm so proud of myself for reading again. It's a great way to pass the time in between teaching classes. I'm also really enjoying the story. Some of the terminology is very interesting...piss pot, "courses," lady in waiting... I wonder how historically accurate this story is and if the author researched the whole time period before writing it. I read the fictional account of Marilyn Monroe's life in Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates and I know Ms. Oates did some fascinating research on Monroe before writing that novel.

I'm glad it'll be Friday tomorrow. PAY DAY. And Halloween. Halloween just won't be the same without lots of candy. I prefer buying my candy after Halloween when it all goes on sale. Oh, yeah, sure, candy is on sale now...but I mean REALLY on sale!! 80% off!! 90% off!!

Peaceful

I am 50 pages into The Other Boleyn Girl. I had about 2 hours today to read and so I made the most of it. So far, I'm intrigued. There's something very peaceful about reading this book...and about reading in general. It's a nice break from the computer and tv screens that dominate my life. I feel a lot better after reading. I now understand that whole late 1800's escapism through reading movement. What can I say? I'd have been a great 1800's lady, though I do love my showers :-D

The Other Boleyn Girl

Well, I took the plunge. After a long day of teaching, I managed to drive over to the library and grab The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. It's a big book to read in the 2 weeks they've given me to read it. It's probably the most grown-up book I've read in a while. Usually, I try to read a lot of Young Adult books or classics just to keep up with school curricula. Ah well, we'll see how I do!

Reading Accomplishments

Dilemma - I'm lazy. Very very lazy. I'm a substitute teacher and when I come home (as most teachers do), I don't want to do anything. But I have this wonderful thing called "free time" at work. Some of these teachers have up to an hour and a half of "prep time" but I really don't need to prep so I have "free time" to do as I please. I can't do anything internet related because it would probably violate some weird usage policy. So, as a soon-to-be English teacher, I like spending my "free time" reading.

In September, I read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It's a classic and since I'm into these militaristic/"utopian" books, it was right up my alley. It was a good book and I'd love to be teaching it to a group of students one day!

This month, I finished Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. I'm not usually a science fiction reader, but it was on our bookshelf and since I needed something to read, I put it in my bag. The concept of this book was amazing!! "Aliens" come down to Earth in huge ships, but never show their face for 150 years. They create world peace by the sheer massiveness of their ships hovering over Earth cities. But something's not quite right...why won't the aliens show their face? What do they have planned for Earth?? I'm not going to spoil the rest, but it was excellent!!

Now I'm out of books to read and I have a choice - buy a book or get one from the library. I should be a fan of the library, but the fact that I have to return it by a certain date adversely affects my ability to read the book. I like enjoying a book on my time, not on the library's. Oh, and remember...I'm lazy. Having to go to the library to get a book and again to return it...what a pain. It's probably not worth $10 to buy a book that I may or may not like, only to read it once, and then have it land on my overcrowded bookshelf.