reading list updit!
It looks like I am going to run out of January before I run out of books on the January reading list.
I am really getting into using the internet to reserve books at the library and on Wednesday nights the library two streets away from my house is open until 8pm. It’s like my inner nerd died and went to heaven, book heaven.
The first bunch I read were ‘Fat, Forty & Fired‘ by Nigel Marsh and ‘Buddhism For Mothers‘ by Sarah Napthali (not on the list, but it grabbed my attention while I was wandering through the stacks). They contrasted quite well. They are both about parenting, but from different sides of the fence.
Marsh is pretty much fat, 40 and fired (surprisingly), only he’s not fat, 40 and fired from a blue-collar job, struggling to make ends meet. He’s a senior manager at an advertising firm, and instead of taking up the offer of international relocation when the Australian branch of his firm closes down he decides to take a year to himself. And his family can afford it, so this book is about entering swimming races, and taking trips overseas without the kids, and doing a bit of school kiosk duty, not about what it means to be an older jobseeker with a family to support and no prospects for reasonable employment, or anything difficult like that.
The final chapter had a few paragraphs that were interesting. He writes that it’s impossible for men and women to do it all professionally and be actively engaged in all aspects of family life and the housework, and that he’s happier working and spending whatever time he can manage with his kids, not beating himself up about not being the perfect dad and parent everytime he has to work late and miss bedtimes. That chapter of the book was interesting. The rest of it was more like a diary of what Nigel did on his year off.
The ‘Buddhism for Mothers’ book was annoying in similar and different ways. I found the title annoying. I also found some little asides like, “we haven’t married saints so don’t expect your husband to do the dishes, use buddhism instead to feel calm about it” (paraphrasing wildly) were bloody annoying and made me want to throw the book across the room. Which is not what you want from a book about buddhism.
Some of the approaches Napthali outlines about parenting were nice, though. Going with the flow, appreciating the small stuff, enjoying your kids and not comparing them to other kids the same age, being forgiving of other parents’ annoying comments and so on, that stuff was nice. But the gender stuff cast a bad shadow over the more useful stuff so if anyone asks me I would give it 2 and a half stars. And that is the beauty of blogs. Nobody ever asks you, but you can just be wildly opinionated and annoying and rate other people’s work anyway.
It’s nice to be reading again, though. I’m picking the books from the State Library of Victoria’s Summer Reading suggestions, the Top 100 Penguin books to read before you cark it, and random other book sites.
I’ve been getting back into reading more recently and remembering how much I like it. I’ve been doing a fair piece of political reading and other “heavy” subjects and am realizing that I need to balance that with some fluffy, novel, fiction-type stuff too. Now I just need to remember those authors that I like along those lines. There can be a thin line between fluffy and moronic.
I really hardly ever read, other than on-line. You’re inspiring me here. Maybe I have a library near me. Maybe it is open at night. Maybe I should check it out.
If there’s one thing I love more than reading, it’s lists of books to read. The love affair with crossing things off is a Neverending Story.
So, I’m heading off to find links to “the State Library of Victoria’s Summer Reading suggestions, & the Top 100 Penguin books to read before you cark it” as we type.