Weekend Reading

Friday night, in lieu of knitting I finished Ender's Game. I haven't read a good science fiction book in a while. Harrigan recommended it. And I truly enjoyed it. Science fiction is a human nature study, even if it's set in space or alien wars. It was hard for me to read about a child being broken down by his peers and neglected by adults that were raising him with "tough love". But it made sense and I couldn't wait for each moment I had to pick it up and lose myself in the story. That's what it's about right?

Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield are starring in the movie version set to release at the end of this year. The Trailer will be revealed at the new Star Trek movie. 

And of course because I volunteered at school to organize and level classroom libraries , I had to start a new book. Unusual Uses for Olive Oil.

It was an easy read and funny. The main character is such a dorky professor, completely lacking self-awareness at his social awkwardness. I finished this in about 2.5 days. It was also a very sweet book. Last paragraph, without spoilers, just sentiment:

"It's true," she said, reaching out over the back of the seat to place a comforting hand upon his forearm. She felt the olive oil on the fabric of his sleeve, but did not worry about that, because sympathy -- and friendship -- can rise above, can negate, the  misfortunes that so consistently and so unfairly beset others. Sympathy and friendship can rise above these things -- and almost always do.

The other parent I partnered with in the classroom and I skipped down memory lane, looking at the 5th grade library. We talked childhood books as well as current reads. I told her I had just finished Ender's Game which she really liked, and she recommended this book, outside of the Ender's Series. Reading again has been awesome.

Next up: Continuing to learn perspective with Raising Cain, a few chapters at a time and then I return to the nightstand stack. I think either Death Comes to  Pemberley which Peppermint Mocha Mama seems to be endorsing! Or perhaps, I'll delve into Beautiful Ruins which many knitting bloggers seem to have enjoyed.

It don't mean knit ...

Or what rhymes with knit. ha! Get it? Yeah, thanks for the grampa moment.

Reading has often meant no knitting. The Game of Thrones period really affected my knitting productivity ...

I admit I finished rereading an old mystery on my shelf and picked up a new one. Initially I had a hard time getting into this one Burial at Sea. I'm not sure if it's because of the flashback / chronological order of the narration, or if I missed the main character's cozy aristocratic home and routine. Eventually I came to really appreciate the author's break from his usual set up. Not that I find him particularly formulaic but he's set me up for some expectations nonetheless. Also who doesn't love a murder mystery set up in confined spaces?
 
The day I finished A Burial at Sea, Hotel Bemelmans arrived in the mail. Such timing. It has kept me reading in those not enough time to cast on a project moments.

This book is really fun. Ludwig Bemelmans is the author of the wonderful Madeline children's series. This is an exaggerated memoir/or autobiographical essays of his life growing up in the Food & Service Industry. If you've ever been a coffee jockey or a hostess or a server or worked some kind of retail, I think you'll appreciate it. Especially if you have a love for the food industry.

I like it because each chapter is a vignette in itself. I can put it down and pick up the needles, and not be too obsessed with what happens next (like I was with A Burial at Sea where I read in bed, before going to work on Monday... oops.) 

I've really enjoyed this latest return to reading.  I think it's been gentle stuff to ease me back in. I have a stack of books that have the potential to be EMOtionally draining for a fluff reader like me. But the emo reading is really good too, when you miss a well turned phrase and non "try-hard" prose. So this is the first "stack" of new books for 2013.