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You Just Can't Trust Me with a Book
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009
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It is good to know the areas in which you have no self-control.
For me, that area is novels. I don't read novels that often, mostly because when I do, the rest of my life gets utterly neglected.
When the children were younger, if I got into a novel, they would have to make their own lunches (I know we have peanut butter around here somewhere; go find it. If not, just have some ice cream). They would dress themselves. They would play by themselves. Because I could not leave that novel until I got to the last page.
Over the last few weeks, while I have been sick, I've reread the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series, which I love. There's parts of it I don't love; she seems far more explicit sometimes in the violent scenes than need be, and parts are rather ugly to think about. But it's a great, exciting romance that spans six books, I think, which are all wonderful.
Anyway, this morning I had things to do. Many things to do. Important things to do. But I also had 70 pages to finish. Guess what won out?
Happily, I am now done the novels, so I can get back to my real life. But I do laugh at how I just can't seem to put books down. I'm not sure why that is, but I've always been like that. I'm not one of those people that can have a novel "on the go", reading a chapter or two at a time, and then picking up where I left off later on. If I start it, I have to finish it, usually in one go.
Picking novels is hard, too, because I don't want something that's too sexually explicit, but I also want something with real life in it. I love some Christian writers, like Francine Rivers' Roman series, and some of Karen Kingsbury. I like the thriller and legal novels a lot more, like Randy Alcorn or Randy Singer. But occasionally there are secular writers I love, too, and Diana Gabaldon is one of them.
I think the reason I like her is that she portrays marriage in a really beautiful way. All the sex scenes in the book (the good ones, that is; not the rapes) are between married couples, and they're not explicit. It's not like soft porn or anything. But it is very romantic. It always gives me warm and fuzzy feelings about my own husband, which I figure is a good thing. And I do like the way she stresses marriage in her work. I think she's writing from a very Catholic background, though that's just my own guess. But I like that.
Now that I'm done, I think I shall get back to knitting. My knitting fell by the wayside recently because of illness and other distractions, and I never feel quite right unless I'm knitting something. And knitting I can pick up and then put down without spontaneously combusting, so it's a safer hobby. So I'll go back to my "knit at least two rows every day" to stay sane prescription. Somehow I always feel more grounded with needles in my hands.
Books are like an obsession to me; they fire me up, and it's hard to come back to reality. Knitting, on the other hand, grounds me in reality. It gives me time to think, and be peaceful, and even pray. So I'll go back there for a time.
The novels have been fun, but it's time to return home. And it's probably about time to start feeding the kids again, too.
 Labels: books, knitting |
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posted @ 9:18 AM
 
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I'm just like you with books! My husband loves to read and will pick up a book for a chapter or two before bed. He's always asking me why I don't read more; I'm an English teacher, for cryin' out loud. But I know, especially with 4 kids, I just can't because they'll be running wild in the house when we should be schooling, or I'll be up until 4am finishing a book and then be a MONSTER in the morning!