Thursday, August 20, 2009

Books I Am Reading

I am an avid reader. I LOVE to read, usually fiction, especially chic lit now that I am a mom and only have so many brain cells left to devote to reading! I thought I would share with you what I have been reading in case you are looking for ideas.

Within the past few months I have joined a book club that is organized by the Stroller Strides class I attend. It sounds a little dorky and not for a young person like me (ha ha ha.....) but I love attending. Not only does it give me a reason to read a book, but so far I have read authors I normally wouldn't think of reading AND I get to discuss a book with other moms. Ie, I have an adult conversation that doesn't involve my children's eating, sleep, or poop habits. The last book we read was The Senator's Wife, by Sue Miller. It was okay, and I doubt I'll read any of her other books. There were some issues that I didn't like involving how the author portrays women relationships, motherhood, and breastfeeding. You would have thought the book was written by a man because of how these three ideas are portrayed in the book. But if you want a quick read, this certainly fits the bill.

I took the kids to the library today, Jordan had a blast and picked out her own book then helped me carry a few books to the front desk to check out. One book I got is Madness, by Marya Hornbacher about her experiences with bipolar disorder. I read her first book about her eating disorder, Wasted, a few years ago and loved it. I am a total sucker for memoirs, especially those involving mental illness. There is a reason I got my psychology degree... but I think on a more basic level, it is because I can relate to books involving mental illness. It makes me feel validated for the years I suffered bipolar disorder, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder before therapy (and Dave!!!) helped me. I appreciate other peoples stories. I cannot tell you how many books I own about depression, bipolar, and eating disorders. I am also oddly fascinated by OCD and have a few books about case studies. I think if I were to ever go back and get my masters, I would focus on OCD or eating disorders.

Another book I got is Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins. A coworker introduced me to him a few years ago when she lent me Half Asleep in Frogs Pajamas. This is an author I wouldn't have thought to read if it weren't for someone else, so I am excited to read another one of his books.

I just recently finished reading two books by Jen Lancaster. You can check out her blog! I love her books and recommend them highly to anyone who likes chic lit and/or memoirs. She has hysterical one liners!

Anyway, that's what's on my mind today. If you have any suggestions, I would love to receive them.

3 comments:

michelle lynn said...

So funny because I all of a sudden love to read, too! Makes me feel all growed up now ;) I also LOVE personal stories involving messy life events or mental illness (wow, I've never really said that outloud before). But I also minored in psych (major special ed - guess it still fits the bill :) I just picked up this book from the library called (I think) the Woman Who Couldn't Forget - seems very interesting so far. I also wanted to ask you if you've ever read another book that sounds like it would be interesting to you if you haven't, but I need to go look up the name, and that involves entirely too much walking right now :)

Sara Hagan said...

Hi Kate! Just wanted to step out of the blog stalker shadows for a moment to say I'm so excited to see that you appreciate Tom Robbins. He's definitely one of my favorite authors evah! His Skinny Legs and All is my favorite of his works. If you like Robbins, I think you'd like Kurt Vonnegut and Christopher Moore. (They round out my list of favorite authors.) Have you checked them out?

Anyway, yay for books!

Kate said...

Sara- I have most of kurt vonnegut's books. I got to meet him once, he came to our high school. AWESOME!! I will definitely check out Christopher Moore.

Michelle - I'm not sure how I find time to read, but I do. It's one of my few "escapes"! I don't know why, but reading about other peoples lives is slightly addicting, don't you think? Please let me know what that other book is!