Tuesday, December 2, 2008

The Obstacle to Christmas Party Preparation

Do you see the Currently Reading (or maybe it was back in February) section over there to the right- way, way down? I love to read and I read a lot. Honestly, I can't fathom people who read two books a year. I'm not insulting them, I just can't understand them. However, I recently stalled on a book.

I have spent the last six to eight weeks reading Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter. It's only 200 pages. It was ridiculous. I could not get excited about reading it. I trudged through it a page or a two at a time. It's a quirk of mine that I generally feel obligated to a book to finish it once I've started to read it. I finally finished it the other day. Then I devoured a James Patterson in two days.

This week I'm supposed to be planning and cleaning and preparing for the annual Christmas Party around here. The one where sixty people show up- looking for food, spirits and merriment. I've encountered a harsh obstacle though. When we were in DC for Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law, Bev, passed along two books to read.

Stephanie Meyer's Twilight. and New Moon. I read 250 pages yesterday. This is clearly not getting my deck cleaned off and decorated. I know I shouldn't, but I can't help picking it up to read just a little more. I think I get all the hoopla now.

7 comments:

Phill said...

Twins! When I am on a reading bender, I can go through about three books in a week. (It gets tricky - I only read non-fiction.) Usually, I'm at least a one or two book a week person. Do I remember something about this being the holiday party for the husband's clients?

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Scarlett Letter. BLECH. We read it in school. I remember trudging through, wondering why I couldn't get excited about it, even then! Apparently, it's a dead book that should stop being revered and just put to rest!

Gettysburg Mom said...

Update: I've now finished Twilight and am tearing through the second book. Luckily, I owe overdue fines to the library so I can't just run out and pick up the next book. At this rate, I should be done by tonight. That'll still leave me this week to prepare. Whew.

Worse than the Scarlet Letter was Silas Marner. Blech.

Anonymous said...

Would you take book donations? I'm trying to get my hubby to weed through his books. Between years of school, yard sales and me buying books that I don't read - we're overloaded! BUT I will not mail them until after new years! Plus I heard that your Hubs built you a book shelf - is it full yet?

Admittingly, I am your worse nightmare! Clearly seen by my spelling errors and my lack of SAT words, I do not read. I cannot sink into a book and get lost - never have been able to. I do enjoy magazines, cook books and guides books (How to build _____).

Throw up some holiday crap - and be done with it. Since you're serving enough alcohol for the Navy, they will never notice ;)

AdkJen said...

I just finished Twilight as well in less than 48 hours. Too sad that I have had to wait until today before being able to ge tot the library! Having been recently diagnosed with gall stones and the pain is amazing unless I am lying down and very still. So what better thing to do, eh?

I actually started keeping track of the books I read each year, labeling each read and author. The max for me one year was 52. Sounds like you read more than that!! Well it has saved me the mistake of rereading a book without my realizing it. Once I was halfway through a book before it finally dawned on me that I HAD read it before. Sad, isn't it.

Hopefully you won't get your hands on the last two books in the series until after the party, eh?

Anonymous said...

Can't you put those kids of yours to work? I *know* Atlee is a party girl - I think she might think *putting up* the decorations would be a party! I think I have thought of trying to keep track of what I read in a year but never have. Right now I'm slogging through a non-fiction book (rarely read non-fic). I'm curious about what City Mouse reads; I've been given some non-fic books but never picked them up (Ghost in White City; Thin Air).

Anonymous said...

Use your HTML, Michael.

I know Atlee...

...putting up the decorations...