Binging and Purging

No, I don't have an eating disorder.  At least not this kind.  I can't even imagine.

I'm talking about a reading binge.  Oh, it has been delightful.  I finished reading Les Miserables a week ago, which had taken me almost five weeks to read (an eternity for my reading tastes).  Needing a fast, almost mindless book to recharge my batteries, I went to the library and checked out an Anita Shreve book.  The boys were gone for a fathers and sons camp-out on Friday night and I stayed up late and finished that disastrous novel.

The next day, I found myself downtown and inside my favorite little bookstore.  Minutes later, I walked out with two new books.  I started one, Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden, that day and finished it the next.  Then, before starting my other new book, I remembered I had checked out The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks from the library almost a month ago before we moved, and it was hidden somewhere in one of my many moving messes.  Once found, I started and finished it after taking the boys to school.  Mmmmmmm.  Absolutely delectable.

I currently have eight....eight books I have read over the last three months that are still unreviewed.  Oh, I know none of them need to be reviewed, but that's what I do.  I read something and review it, and until I do it doesn't feel completed.  Rather than shuffle these four books to the bottom of the review pile, I scandalously reviewed them first.  Writing about them was almost as enjoyable as reading them.  I definitely prefer writing a review when the book is still fresh in my mind.

It's nice to be reminded that I like to read and write.  This month has been so stressful and although ignoring all my other responsibilities to read these books and write about them goes a little beyond indulgence, I honestly think I needed to do it.  I feel like me again, not just some dirty, pony-tailed mover.

Now, I need to get back to unpacking and organizing, not to mention all the other day-to-day work.  And I need to get back on the classics diet.  My year's deadline is only three months away.  It's good for me, right? :)