Books I Love: Part I

As promised, I’m back after having read a book! If you’ve been paying attention, I also wrote a review of SYTYCD Top 8 and several haiku (haikus?) in the interim, plus added a quotation box and a couple of Mensa puzzles to this here humble blog.

But it’s the reading of the book that really feels like a victory, somehow.

I am going to slowly wean myself away from online activities (with the exception of this blog, and some other selected activities–baby steps, you know). In their place, I vow to regain my lost love for books. I had forgotten the joy they bring. I feel, somehow, much less guilt after whiling away an afternoon reading a book, than I do spending the same amount of time online. I wonder why that is?

As part of my recovery from online addiction (kind of contradictory that I should be writing in my blog about this now, isn’t it?), I have been discussing with a friend The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, a beautifully crafted story set in South Carolina in 1964, revolving around Lily, a 14-year-old white girl living with an abusive father in the aftermath of her mother’s death.

More about this book, and–to borrow a Gawker phrase–a listicle of other books you might enjoy, if you enjoyed this one, after the jump.

Gone Fishin’

<– Not me!

<– Not my dog!

I am on vacation. I understand that a lot of people who have time off from work actually, you know, go away or something. At the very least, I believe they turn their computers off. Proudly contrarian, I will do neither. Instead, I will take some time to start a blog (mission accomplished!). Next up: catching up on my reading. Which IS going to require me to turn my computer off. And maybe also reprogram my brain, while I’m at it.