Trying to get my groove back

I think I mentioned before that I'm having a hard time finding something to read. Well, the other night I took my son to Borders. Looking over the hundreds of books, I still couldn't find anything I wanted to read.

I wanted to find a really good romance but lately I'd been turned off by them. Not because of any particular author, but because everytime I read them, I'm not paying attention to the story, but to the mechanics of the writing and looking for ways for me to improve my own writing. It's not as enjoyable as it used to be. I can't just get lost in a book anymore. And for someone who enjoys writing as much as I do, it's kind of like losing your sex drive.

Then, as I was standing at the shelf filled with staff picks for the summer, I noticed the book Catcher in the Rye. A book I've never read before. I then turned to my son and suggested we both start reading classic books over the summer. We could have kind of a book club.

He rejected this idea right away. I think because I was refusing to buy him the $30 video game book her really wanted. (I refuse to pay that much for a book that isn't somehow enriching his life in some way).

We left Borders both unsatisfied.

Then on Saturday night he came into my room and said he wanted to go ahead and go with the idea of reading classics and that my MIL wanted to join in as well. Great! The more the merrier! But instead of my idea of us reading the same book, he thought we should each pick our own, then swap.

That was fine, too. I could agree to that. But where to get the books? I don't have a whole lot of money right now, and I'm not buying all these books. My son rejected my library idea, plus the library was already closed Saturday and doesn't open on Sunday. That's when I remembered there was a used book store in my town that I hadn't yet checked out.

So on Sunday, I got ready and away we went. I picked out Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, my son picked out Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and we picked out Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton for my MIL. I have never heard of this book, but it said it was a classic, and was kind of short. The storyline looked interesting, too.

I started Jane Eyre yesterday, and it's caught my attention so far. It's the first time in awhile that it's hard for me to put down a book. I even want to skip to the end to see what happens. The great thing about this book is that, even though I've heard a lot of people mention it, I don't remember any of the storyline. So it will be a total surprise to me.

Now I just have to find a good movie version of it for when I'm done.