Girls get to have adventures, too

I found a cool website called amightygirl.com which has "the world's largest collection of books, toys and movies for smart, confident, and courageous girls." That's a good thing, because puberty is just around the corner. I'm not looking forward to surviving it a second time, even at once removed. I'm always on the look out for stuff for ThePinkThing (who is strenuously objecting that moniker, since she no longer likes pink, but anyway...). They have book recommendations, which are many and varied. That's all fine and good, but I like knowing what my friends (or their daughters) have read or are reading. And so, I asked the Facebook Mind for book suggestions for TPT.

This request arose from a comment she made after reading two books: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. She wondered why boys always get to have the really fun adventures in books. I remember wondering exactly the same thing, when I was girl and around her age. Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden weren't cool, Little Women was BORING, and The Secret Garden lost me when it got all religious in the latter half. I never got an answer to my question or a list of good books where girls had the adventures and boys were extraneous. Eventually, I started reading my mom's adult SF/Fantasy books and though I still noted the dearth of smart, adventurous girls, I didn't look specifically for girl-centric books.

So I asked the FB Hivemind on behalf of TPT. I got a bunch of cool suggestions from family, friends and friends of friends. I didn't include the ones where the main character is a boy (only girls allowed in this club, dudes), though some of the books have adventures with mixed company. I'm pretty positive that TPT will not enjoy some of them (we can forget Little Women and The Secret Garden), and others are too advanced for her at this point (the Sabriel series and The Book Thief). I read Julie of the Wolves when I was about 10 and was completely freaked out by a specific scene. I know she will be, too, and will hold off on that one for another year or two, though it would seem exactly the kind of book she wants. TPT now has reading material for the next couple of years...

Please note that these were suggestions from a variety of people, and I have not read many of them. Some I've added. Also, my categorization are, perhaps, a bit arbitrary.

SF/Fantasy/Mythology
A Matter of Magic by Patricia Wrede
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
A Wrinkle in Time (and sequels) by Madeleine L'Engle
Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess by George O'Connor
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison
Girl Genius by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio
Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter
Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell
Holly Vesper books by Lloyd Alexander
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Podkayne of Mars by Robert Heinlein
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede
The Amulet series by Kazu Kibushi
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Courageous Princess by Rod Espinosa
The Courtney Crumrin series by Ted Naifeh
The Fairy Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm, Book 1) by Michael Buckley and Peter Ferguson
The Genius Files series by Dan Gutman (comment from TPT: The main characters in this book are siblings, and the brother is the ringleader, not the sister.)
The Girl Who Owned a City by OT Nelson
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
The Gurgazon series by Ray Fawkes
The Harper Hall trilogy by Anne McCaffrey
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood
The Runaways series (only the ones by Brian Vaughn)
The Sabriel series by Garth Nix
The Strictest School in the World (and sequels) by Howard Whitehouse
The Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett
Alana: The First Adventure (and sequels) by Tamora Pierce
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
The Oz books by L. Frank Baum
The Oz graphic novel versions by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (and sequels) by Joan Aiken
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos (and sequels) by RL LaFevers
Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede
Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

Fiction
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiMillo
Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
Bridge to Teribithia by Katherine Patterson
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright and Joe & Beth Krush
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
The Case of the Missing Marquess: an Enola Holmes mystery (and sequels) by Nancy Springer
The Great Gillie Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
To the Summit by Claire Rudolf Murphy

Classics/Older
Anne of Green Gables (and sequels) by LM Montgomery
Charlotte's Web by EB White
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by EL Konigsburg
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene
National Velvet by Enid Bagnold
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Rescuers by Margery Sharp
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Trixie Belden books by Julie Campbell

TPT has read A Wrinkle in Time, 10 of the Series of Unfortunate Events books, the first Girl Genius book, the entire Amulet series, the Runaways series, Zita the Spacegirl, Charlotte’s Web, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Little Witch, The Courageous Princess, and Matilda. She’s tried Harriet the Spy, Nancy Drew, and The Secret Garden and didn't finish.

I've read A Wrinkle in Time (and all of the sequels plus some of her other books), The Courageous Princess, A Matter of Magic, the first Girl Genius book, Charlotte's Web, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Matilda, Harriet the Spy, a whole bunch of Nancy Drews, The Secret Garden, Podkayne of Mars, Sorcery and Cecelia (and its sequels), Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, The Blue Sword (and its prequel), The Harper Hall trilogy (plus the rest of the Pern books), The Sabriel series, all of the Oz books, the graphic version of The Land of Oz, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (and 1 sequel), Thirteenth Child, the Anne of Green Gables series (plus the majority of her other books; The Blue Castle is my favorite), Julie of the Wolves, Little Women (and its two sequels), Little Witch, National Velvet, Pippi Longstocking, The Courageous Princess, The Goose Girl, Eight Cousins, and a few Trixie Beldens.

Reading vs. listening

I'm partway through the audiobook version of A Civil Campaign -- listening on my way to/from work for the past week or so. This book was amazingly fun on many levels. It was released in 1999, somewhat early times in the world of the internet. Ebooks didn't exist. The sale of ARCs on eBay wasn't quite so pervasive yet.

Baen Books did the unthinkable -- it released the first few (5?, 10?) chapters online for free in the months preceding the official release. The slavering fans waited eagerly for each snippet during that period, eagerly checking Baen's site. (Okay, fine, I'm projecting, because that's what I did...) At that point in my life, I belonged to the Bujold ListServ, back when I had no kid and more free time. The local DC area listees would occasionally get together to discuss LMB books, other SFF books, and any other topic under the sun. We even dragged pseudo-locals to our get-togethers, like Doug Muir, who lived on the island of Saipan at that time, but happened to be visiting family in the DC area. It happened that the local listees met at a restaurant in Northern VA on the after a new bit of the book was released. It was the scene where Miles is discussing Count VorMuir's shenanigans with uterine replicators and little girls (not really as bad as what you might be thinking...). Count VorMuir is a venal, sneaky, self-serving character, and though only a bit player in the book, is quite memorable. Lois "tuckerized" Doug into Count VorMuir, which was especially amusing becuase Doug is none of those things. Regardless of the appropriateness of the characterization, we took great pleasure in making Doug read that scene aloud to the group (10 or 15 of us) in the restaurant. We definitely caused a ruckus by laughing and carrying on.

Anyway.

I loved reading the book and have reread most of it over the years (except for that incredibly painful dinner party scene...). As a book, it is funny, painful, introspective, and filled with subtle (and not so sublte) action. In the book, Lois uses 5 characters as viewpoint characters, with notably different "voices" for each one. I liked Miles and Ekaterin best on the initial read and the rereads, with Ivan third, then Mark, and last Kareen. What has struck me during this audiobook experience, is that I like Miles's voice the least and Ivan's the most. Perhaps because his comments are just so damn funny, or because I just finished Ivan's book.

Have any of you out ther in blog-land listended to a book with multiple viewpoints like this and came away liking one of the other characters better in the audio version vs. the print version? Or even in books with single character viewpoint?

Regardless, I'm very much enjoying getting to and from work right now and am ever hoping for some traffic to make my ride longer...

NPR's Top 100 SF/F Books (with comments)

Meme from Random Michelle:

bold – I’ve read it

italic – started and abandoned

bold/italic - read one book in the series and liked it but didn't like the series as a whole or abandoned it (my addition to the grading system)

**made my top 10 SF/F list of books

******************************************

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien – I finished the first book and got about halfway through the second before I gave up. Never opened the third one. Yes, I know, I’m a heretic.


2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams – I even own a copy in Italian (which I can’t read)


3. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card


4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert – I loved the first couple. After that: yuck!


5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin – The first one in this series was a wall-banger for me: I got to a point in the book that really really annoyed me, so I threw it at the wall. I never finished it.


6. 1984, by George Orwell – Required reading in high school. I didn't like it, mostly because I don't like dystopias.


7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury – I own it, does that count?


8. **The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov


9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley –– Required reading in high school. Have I mentioned that I don't like dystopias?


10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman – I own it, does that count?


11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman – I love the movie, but not the book.


12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan – I read the couple of books then simply got bored. Never revisited the series and don’t plan to.


13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell – It was okay.


14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson – read it on recommendation of a friend and liked it. Not inclined to read cyberpunk, as a rule.


15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore


16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov


17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein – I read it when I was about 13, and I really had no idea what the hell it was about. A later reread was far more worthwhile.


18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss- I own the first one (The Name of the Wind), does that count?


19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut


20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley – I own it, does that count?


21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick


22. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood – I still don’t like dystopias.


23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King


24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke


25. The Stand, by Stephen King


26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson – I own it, does that count?


27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury – I own it, does that count?


28. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut


29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman – I own it, does that count?


30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess


31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein – read it as a teenager and skipped over a lot of the philosophy. I reread it occasionally now and actually enjoy those parts. Go figure.


32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams


33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey – I loved the Pern series through "The White Dragon", then wondered what happened


34. **The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein – Sort of the libertarian's manifesto in SF novel form. I'm not a libertarian, but I do adore this book.


35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller – I still don’t like dystopias.


36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells – I didn’t really like it


37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne


38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys – required reading in high school (hated it). Reread it within the last year and got teary.


39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells


40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny – I enjoyed these and wish he had written more


41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings – Read this series a few years ago and liked the first one, then was under-impressed with the subsequent ones. Didn’t prevent me from finishing the series (6 books, right?)


42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley


43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson – I think I have the first one somewhere


44. **Ringworld, by Larry Niven – oh yes, a top 10.


45. **The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin – I read this one when I was too young to understand it but was still blown away by it.


46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien – nope, sorry.


47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White


48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman


49. **Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke – This book literally stunned me when I read it (13 or 14?). I’ve never been able to bring myself to read it again, but I put it in my top 10.


50. Contact, by Carl Sagan – I own it, does that count?


51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons


52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman – really liked this one


53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson – I own it, does that count?


54. World War Z, by Max Brooks – Michelle hates zombies. So do I (they have no brains, so of course I hate them...)


55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle


56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman – yes, another really, really good book.


57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett – I’ve tried this one a couple of times but never felt the love


58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson – Yes, I finished the series. By the end I was probably thinking "these are hours of my life I’ll never get back" but I had to know how it ended. Ask me now how the series ended and I couldn’t tell you.


59. **The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold – My favorite series of books. Period. I think the Vorkosiverse numbers 16 books now, and I not only buy them faithfully, I buy 'em in hardcover.


60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett – More Discworld. I just don’t get Discworld.


61. The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle – in my top 20. I reread it every few years.


62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind


63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy


64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke


65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson -- This confused me at first, because I was mixing it up with My Name Is Legion by Roger Zelazny


66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist – one of those never-ending fantasy series


67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks – Yuck. Yuck. Did I mention yuck?


68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard


69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb – I tend to get bored by sweeping epic fantasy.


70. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger


71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson


72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne


73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore


74. Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi – I really like this series.


75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson


76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke


77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey – I tried the first one, got about 50 pages in and said to myself "I’d rather spend my time clipping my toenails…".


78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin – I own it, does that count?


79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury – I own it, does that count?


80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire


81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson


82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde – I really enjoyed this book and seriously disliked the 2nd one. I think I own the 3rd one but am not interested in trying it.


83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks – I loved "The Player of Games", a novel in this series, but haven’t tried any of the others. I’m thinking I should.


84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart – Not my favorite in this series. I liked the 3rd book (The Hollow Hills) much more.


85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson


86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher – I liked the first couple of books in this series a lot and stuck it out to the end, though I found the last one derivative and boring.


87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe


88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn


89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan – I liked the first book and maybe the second and faltered on the 3rd.


90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock


91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury – I own it, does that count?


92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley


93. **A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge – Oh yes! You should read this one. At least twice.


94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov – definitely a top 20 for me, though not quite top 10 (at least the day that I voted)


95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson – I liked Red Mars and couldn't get into the 2nd one. Might have to give it another try.


96. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle – Really like this one and reread it occasionally. Has one of my favorite scenes in all of SF: some crazy guy surfing a tsunami into LA…


97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis – This isn’t my favorite of hers (Bellwether is), but I’d put it in my top 20.


98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville – Couldn’t finish it, but don't ask me why.


99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony – I tried one of these and couldn't get into it.


100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

7 of my top 10 made this list (Childhood's End, The Vorkosigan saga, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, Ringworld, A Fire Upon The Deep, The Left Hand Of Darkness).

I've read 39/100 (either the book named or the entire series), partially completed 5 series (and liked at least one of the books), and disliked 9/100 books or series enough not to finish at all. That's a total of 53/100, which is less than I expected. Clearly, I have some reading to do.

The 3 books that I voted for that didn't make the top 100 were The Sparrow (Doria Russell), The Swordspoint Trilogy (Ellen Kushner), and The Uplift Saga (David Brin).

Shilling for audiobooks

Happy Chanukah to me! I got a one-year subscription to audible.com for my Chanukah present. It is, for the most part, my first foray into audiobooks. I've listened to a few audiobooks over the years, but I don't love them as I love reading books. However, I am back to spending more time commuting than I like, since my office moved over a year ago. News on the radio just makes me agitated, which is not a good way to start or end the day. I just don't dig music. I've tried, really, but music just doesn't hold my interest longer than a few songs. I don't like hearing the same songs over and over (so my music CDs bore me), and I really don't like commercials (so regular radio is right out). I am not willing to invest in satellite radio. Therefore, in order to keep me sane on my trafficky rides to and from work, I will be listening to audiobooks.

A one year subscription to audible.com comes with 12 "credits", and most books are one credit apiece. I picked out 4 audiobooks last night, 2 each from 2 of my favorite authors, so I have 8 more books to choose. I am looking to find new authors and listen to new books, not just get audio versions of favorites.

I would love suggestions for books that have translated well to the audio format -- books that you've really enjoyed listening to. I tend to read genre fiction -- primarily science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. Got any suggestions?

Shilling for book suggestions

I will be leaving on Saturday and will be gone for a whole week -- such an opportunity to read books (no kid and no husband...). I want some new stuff to read. I need some new books and authors. I primarily read genre fiction, especially mysteries and science fiction. I like fantasy novels, too, as long as they aren't one of a series of umpty-ump books (my patience runs out...). And I hate vampire books, so don't suggest Jim Butcher, Laurell Hamilton, or their ilk.

My favorite SF author is Lois McMaster Bujold, but I like Niven, Heinlein, Scalzi, Poul Anderson, early David Brin, Vernor Vinge, and a whole host of others. Clearly, I like space opera and semi-hard SF. My favorite fantasy author is Megan Whelan Turner who cranks out a book every 5 freaking years, but I also like Diana Wynne Jones, Naomi Novik, Bujold, JK Rowling, and Caroline Stevermer. With respect to mysteries -- I like a whole boatload of authors. I don't like my mysteries mean or gritty. I like historical mysteries and old-fashioned whodunnits.

So, any suggestions?

========================
Update 4/29, 11:15 pm
Book follow-up:
Dread Empire's Fall: The Praxis (Walter Jon Williams) -- Really good space opera. I will definitely be buying more.

Snake Agent (Liz Williams) -- Holy shit, this one was good, and I am not as much into fantasy as I am into SF. I went into a B&N in Seattle looking to see if they had a sequel, but I was out of luck. I want to read everything in this series RIGHT NOW.

Death at La Fenice (Donna Leon) -- very nice standard whodunnit in which one of the "characters" is almost the city of Venice. Very evocative of a city where I have never been...

Still Life (Louise Penny) -- very readable Agatha-Christie-like multiple-character murder mystery with some interesting characters and a reasonably good plot (I literally had no clue who the baddie was). I'll read more of this series, as well.

Up next:
Agent to the Stars (John Scalzi)
Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud (Robert L. Park)

I forgot these two at home:
Beggars in Spain (Nancy Kress)
The Fencing Master (Arturo Perez-Reverte)

Bookaholism

So I have one main addiction, obsession, vice, whatever you might want to call it, in my life. I call it “bookaholism. Yup, bookaholism. How do I know that? Well, it has to do with the CAGE questions. The CAGE questions are a basic one-minute screen for alcoholism.

1. Have you ever tried to Cut down on your drinking?
2. Do you feel Angry when someone comments about your drinking?
3. Do you feel Guilty about the amount you drink?
4. Do you need an Eye-opener in the morning?

This may be applied quite well to bookaholism:

1. Have you ever tried to *Cut down* on the amount of books you read?
2. Do feel *Angry* when someone comments about your reading habits, or interrupts a good book?
3. Do feel *Guilty* about the amount of books you read, or the time spent doing so?
4. Do you need an *Eye-opener* in the morning (i.e., do you read at the breakfast table)?

Plus some more questions that are specific to bookaholism...

1. Would you rather spend money on books than food? (Chocolate does not count)
2. Do you hide books so that you can sneak and read unseen? (Skin rags don’t count)
3. Do you always carry a book in your bag or briefcase?
4. Do you read several books at the same time? (Well, not at the same time, but you know what I mean.)
5. Are you unable to pass up a good bookstore? Have you parked illegally in order to enter such an establishment?
6. Are you incapable of leaving a bookstore without buying something?
7. Have you ever snuck-bought a book when you know you should have spent the money on something else?
8. You go into a panic when your flight is delayed on the runway. You're not afraid of flying, but you've finished the book you brought along and you've read every magazine in the seat back cover to cover. (Note – true bookaholics will read old women’s magazines, out of date TV guides and hunting magazines if desperate enough…)
9. When traveling, do you return home with more books than when you left?
10. Do you suffer from the Just-One-More-Chapter Syndrome, which interferes significantly with sleep?
11. Is your to-be-read (TBR) pile too big to fit on one bookshelf?
12. Do you start your spring cleaning by building/buying a new bookshelf?
13. If your house burned down, which would cost more to replace: all the furniture and appliances, or the books?

There are some activities that really do not combine well with reading; sex, skydiving, showering, and snorkeling come immediately to mind. Some people believe that one cannot combine reading with eating, but I disagree – just put your hands on autopilot and you'll find dinner gone. The book never suffers (except for occasional stains). Best way to spend a meal by yourself. However, a book does not make a pleasant dinner partner, if one is reading Silence of the Lambs and eating steak tartare...

It is difficult to combine reading with bicycling, unless it is a stationary bike. I certainly wouldn’t recommend reading and driving a car, although I confess that I have dipped into a book when I was stuck in an interminable traffic jam. Commuting via public transportation, however, allows for excellent reading time. However, then you might miss your stop, if you are at a particularly interesting point in your book. If you crack open a book you’ve been waiting before you leave for work, you might skip work altogether...

Reading does not combine very well with good conversation. You can, of course, hold a conversation while reading, but it's usually somewhat incoherent and not adequately interactive for the other participants. However, reading can lead to a boatload of good conversation. But you do have to stop reading first.

I definitely suffer from bookaholism. I would have to answer “yes” to all of the questions above. Books bring me great pleasure. They are the main source of escapism, if you will, in my life and also one of the main sources of expense. I am not much of a TV watcher, and I don’t go to movies as often as I used to. But I still read for pleasure every single day. The lure of the house we live in is a library – a room with built-in bookshelves on all of the walls. My husband has one shelf. The rest are all mine, along with the other bookshelves in the house. One of my goals in life is to get my daughter addicted. I still have time; she's only 6.

My name is Neuron D, and I am a bookaholic. How about you? Are you a bookaholic, too?

(Thanks to Jim for givng me the idea to make this into a blog post...)