I Miss Reading

If there is one thing (other than privacy during bathroom time) that I miss since becoming a mother, it is my reading time.  Don't get me wrong.  I still think that The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Good Night Moon, and The Tailypo  rock!  I just would like to read something without rhyme or repetition once in a blue moon.  I was fortunate (for lack of a better word) enough to have time to read the four Twilight books between last Thanksgiving and last Christmas.  Now, I love a vampire as much as the next girl, but my preferred genre is historical fiction. 

At some time after my divorce from "him," I started reading again.  I dabbled a little with James Patterson, but living alone doesn't always mix well with murder mysteries.  Then, I came upon Oprah's Book Club.  Now, many of you know that I am not really a fan of Ms. Winfrey.  In fact, I've been known to call her the spawn of Satan, but I must say that the woman has good taste in books.  I read most  of the original book club list.  I remember actually rushing home from school so I could get back to reading my "book of the week."  Among my favorites from the original list are Fall On Your Knees, A Fine Balance, and Stones from a River.  I loved spending my time getting lost in these make believe (although historically correct) worlds the authors so seemingly effortlessly poured onto the pages of the books I monthly (sometimes weekly) ordered from Amazon.com.  I branched out from the book club list to find other novels written by the authors The Great Oprah had chosen.  Then, I began to read some "deeper" novels that Dr. Karen Lacey suggested for me.  God bless her for introducing me to Ian McEwan!  Then, something happened.  Some time during my Paw Paw's illness and death, I just stopped reading.  I always said I'd get back to it.  From time to time I'd pick up Patterson's latest.  I became quite a fan of T.D. Jakes, so I read some of his books along with his suggested Bible passages.  I, however, never got back to the reading frenzy in which I found such pleasure from 1999 to 2003.  I completely ignored Oprah when she restarted her book club.  I guess when I heard her say "classics,"  I had flashbacks of high school teachers forcing me to read some irritating books that I believe until this day the authors themselves even hated.  No offense to Teresa Lowe and Sally Smith because I have nothing but love for you two masters of literary education.  So ..... my life blew up at the end of 2005 when my wonderful (now) husband decided after many years that he might want to get a little more serious with me.  A short engagement, followed by a July 2006 wedding, left me little time for reading.  After some BIG news in October of 2006, I found myself only interested in reading What To Expect When You're Expecting.  With Jackson's arrival in July of 2007, there was even less time for indulging in the pleasures of Barnes and Noble.  I hadn't given much thought to my desire to read more until today.  God forgive me, but I watched The Oprah Winfrey Show today.  Oprah has chosen a new book for her book club.  It is called Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.  Something about Queen Oprah's enthusiasm over this novel made me feel just a hint of longing for those afternoons spent reading on the sofa ... no television, no noise, no responsibilities.  Perhaps Jackson's new interest in the computer will give me an a little time once in a while to stick my nose in a book.  It really would be nice to enjoy a piece of literature that didn't include the passage, "Would you, could you with a goat?"  Rest in peace, Dr. Seuss, our collection of your works is quite profuse.  (Excuse any spelling or grammatical errors.  It is, afterall, 2 a.m.)  Peace out!