I have been a completely negligent blogger. I have never been good about keeping a journal/diary/whatever and am still trying to be better about that. The main reason I have not been posting, though, is the fact that I’m in the process of job searching. I’m not career searching. I kind of have an idea where I’d like to go with that and it involves more school. No, right now I’m merely job searching. I need to be able to pay the bills so I can do the things I want to do in life instead of worrying about money all the time. This is not fun for me. I have no problem working. I even like working to a certain extent (although when it really comes down to it I would always rather be with family and friends doing something fun than working – even if I have a job I love). I just don’t like going through the process you have to go through to get a job. I don’t like filling out applications and following up and interviewing. So I have a tendency to procrastinate and avoid and spend most of my time feeling anxious and crabby because I’m procrastinating and avoiding. It feels like job searching takes up my whole life. Any down time I have has to be spent applying for jobs rather than doing something fun. And not that money is everything, but there are several things you can’t do if you don’t have the money to pay for them. I feel like everything is on hold until I have a job. So I’ve been avoiding posting because I’m not in a happy emotional place, which I don’t really want to explore and which I don’t want to spend all my time complaining about. I don’t want my blog to become a whine-fest.
(Deep breath...)
Ok, with that out of the way I can move on. Last year my friend Teri posted her reading list for the year on her blog. This was in response to a post from one of her friends, stating an article that said most Americans read very little. I like the idea of this reading challenge so I’m going to do it this year (although it’s not really a challenge because I love reading!). So here goes...
· Infidel by Ayann Hirsi Ali. I really enjoyed this book. I love biographies. Hearing other people’s stories about their lives helps me feel good about my own. I think it’s helpful to know that no one really knows what they’re doing. It seems like her ideas about Islam are controversial, but I like her stance on women’s rights and I admire her courage.
· Rosie Dunne by Cecelia Ahern. This book was just for fun. I’d just seen the movie, P.S. I Love You, which is also by Cecelia Ahern, so I thought I’d try some of her books. The entire book is written in letter/email/instant message format, which was kind of cool.
· Rococo by Adriana Trigiani. I like this author. I really enjoyed her Big Stone Gap series, so I tried this one. I didn’t like it as much as her others.
· A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. This book was heavy, of course, but it was good. It is so hard for me to get my head around the fact that I’m living the life I’m living and meanwhile things like this are going on in the world. It makes me very grateful for the blessings I have.
· “A” is for Alibi by Sue Grafton. Just for fun.
· Shapechanger’s Song by Jennifer Roberson. She is one of my favorite authors and this was a re-read for me. This is the first book in a fantasy series that she wrote. I was in between library books and needed something to read.
· “B” is for Burglar by Sue Grafton. Continuing the fun from above.
· A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters. I’m on a mystery kick as you can see. I love Brother Cadfael. The BBC had a series called, Mystery, and they used to do Brother Cadfael episodes. I loved those.
· Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This book is about a man working on a circus during the Great Depression. The story was interesting. I wouldn’t need to read it again, but it did pique my curiosity about circuses and I think I’ll look for some books along those lines. On a side note, I love elephants! I think they are one of the coolest animals.
