The Daily Burns

I know i’ve mentioned before that I love books….but I love READING too (you’d think they’re mutually exclusive, but they’re not). However it occurred to me yesterday that I have a long “to read” list but rarely ever sit down to do it! So starting tonight I’m starting a “reading exercise”. For one week I will read at least 1 hour every night. After that I will commit to at least 1 hour 3x/week. I know that’s nothing, but after the kids go to bed the computer, tv (& knitting) and books all fight for my attention. Usually my brain is fizzled out from a long day & 30 min. of computer followed by an hour of TV win.

so now you know my deep dark secret. An hour of tv a day (or..shh…2!!) !!!!! ahhh!!!! wasting my LIFE away!

what’s funny is that i know some will read that & assume i’m 100% joking. Others will read it and feel pity (or disgust?) for my poor weak will-powered tv-owning soul. I’m 70% joking. In case you were wondering.

Right now I’m working on:

Drawing with Children. Very fascinating, but not exactly a relaxing, ‘fun’ read.

Heaven. Yes, i’m STILL reading this one. It started out fantabulous, but…it’s sort of lost me. I think it’s the combination of: how he repeats stuff incessantly & i have to assume it’s for the benefit of 1) people unfamiliar with biblical concepts & 2) people who aren’t reading it in sequential order & are skipping around to chapters that interest them, thus he has to ‘remind’ us of already laid out presuppositions (I’m looking at YOU ryan!). I’m trying to appreciate it for that, but it’s still annoying me. That & sometimes I feel like the things he draws from scripture are…well…i don’t know. I feel like sometimes he goes to great lengths to argue for something to be interpreted as literal that most people assume is figurative…but I don’t see how it REALLY affects anything either way (or in some cases it just ‘feels’ off..). Some things I can see….but a lot of it…I don’t know… I’m going to leave it there, because I am not an exegetical genius (or even very good at it….ok I don’t REALLY remember the difference between exegesis & uh..that other word I confuse exegesis with a lot). Anyway, there are AWESOME bits in it and I still recommend it…just not as “across the board” as I expected I would.

Stepping Heavenward. Ok…so i haven’t actually started this one. But I SHOULD HAVE started it weeks ago, because it’s for a women’s bible study I’ve been attending. Rumor has it I’m really going to love it (it’s autobiographical fiction)…I just hate the idea of 3 books on the burner at the same time…

Plus I’ll be getting A Well Trained Mind this month and I know when it gets here I’m going to want to devour it immediately (homeschool books seem to suck me in the way a good fiction book did back when i was a kid…so absorbed the earth could crumble around me & I’m left unaware…talk about nerd…). ..I don’t already have it b/c there’s a new edition coming out in February and I’ve reserved a copy.

Oh, Asher and I are also reading Froonga Planet together. Grace actually pulled it off a shelf in the “big kids” section, and due to the cover Asher made me check it out. I tried to explain that it’s a LONG book & there’s very few pictures, but no go. We’ve been reading at least one chapter a day (very short chapters), up to 3 (i only stop because I want to…Asher would prefer I keep going…but Grace isn’t the slightest interested so not a lot of long reading opportunities for us). It’s actually a very fun book. I am just sad that it’s a sequel. Had I realized that at the library I would’ve gotten the first one, then read this one. oh, I have to tell this quick story: The first day we read it, once he realized there aren’t hardly any pictures, he started just staring at the floor while i read. At one point it described one of the aliens & he started pushing at the book, looking at the cover. “look mom, that one is a Hoofnoggle”. It reminded me of when I first started reading chapter books & how I’d flip back & forth from the cover trying to figure out who was who as the characters were introduced.

But that book doesn’t count.

Ok, so there you have it. Public announcement that I will attempt to stop becoming a vegetable upon bedtime & start enjoying books again. I miss books that are so good that they keep me away from other more important tasks. It’s been a long time i’ve read one of those. After I finish the current “to read” list, I will be reading a ‘fun’ book. I don’t know which yet. Feel free to recommend. It is ALLOWED to be a ‘classic’ or something that isn’t entirely brain candy, but only if it’s good enough to REALLY suck me in like a movie.

Which reminds me, Mommyknows is giving away a book this week.  I’ve still been too lazy to look up the reviews, but rumor has it it’s a really great book  (&  no i don’t get extra entries for plugging the giveaway.  I just enjoy her blog).