Cool.
Last post was my 99th, for 999 thoughts, on Sept 29, 2011.
It was a pic about Dewey the Librarian Cat. Something goofy and ridiculous and probably fitting for my 99th post.
So here's the 100th.
I've been reading. Strangely enough I won a Nook at the holiday Christmas party so I've been experimenting with e-books. Now that Christmas is over, and I'm taking to heart and soul the renewal of a New Year. I was drawn to and am reading these two books.
Contact by Carl Sagan. A coworker lent it to me and surprisingly I'm enjoying it.
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. We were at Goodwill yesterday and it had a great intro so I bought it.
Curiously enough these are physical books, not e-books. They hold my attention better and I'm not so fickle when picking out what to read, because they are physically and mentally holding my attention.
The only book I could get to read in e-version that I wanted to read was Hotel Vendome by Danielle Steel. First book ever to read by her or her many pen authors. I see it's appeal. It's a bit like reading at a 5th grade level. Characters are easy, plot is linear and overall it's a bit of escapist fantasy for the average woman. I enjoyed the first half of the book but the conflict and intrigue, the so-called drama of the novel, is rather boring and predictable. It's like junk food and fluff. Very good if you're in the mood for that.
The heartier reading of Contact and Eat Pray Love had me thinking. I'm going to blog about the two of these as I'm reading because they talk about some spiritual stuff and some interesting stuff as well.
I'm also fascinated at the idea of "double reading". I'm in library school right now getting my Masters in Library Science. Anyway one cool part of being a librarian is the job of "Reader's Advisory" or recommending books to read. One fascinating topic came up, where you recommend to people to read two books at a time. The article from Brad Hooper "Food and Travel Twin Readers' Advisory Pleasures." talks about recommending food and travel books together. For example, he recommended the combinations below, as a sort of immersive experience and different points of view into reading about a topic. Read one or two chapters at a time from one book, then another.
Some great pairings that were suggested included pairing Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes with The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken by Laura Schenone. For non-geographical food and travel pairings, with the theme of an expose or slice of reality reading, the author recommended The Lawless Road by Graham Greene along with Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.
Anyway, strangely enough, Eat Pray Love and Contact have a strangely philosophical and spiritual aspect to their stories that I'm drawn to and loving. It's great fodder for the brain. It has me stopping, thinking, and imagine this, inspiring me to have ideas and to write again.
So I think as I read through these I'll post some of my ideas, thoughts, and take a slower more reflective path.
I've already got some cool ideas I want to make notes on, write on, be inspired by. I may even write in the books and highlight? Nah. I never do that. I'll just, read and quote and take it as it goes.
A pretty good 100th post if I do say so myself. Here's to overcoming the hump, and continuing on.
Happy New Year! :)
References
Hooper, Brad. "Food and Travel Twin Readers' Advisory Pleasures." Reference & User Services Quarterly 50.2 (2010): 122-5. Web. 25 Apr 2011.
http://www.rusq.org/2010/12/29/food-and-travel-twin-readers’-advisory-pleasures/
