Sunday Salon (08.16.09): Balancing Act

Happy Sunday, everyone! Is it me, or are the weeks flying by? I thought my five weeks off between jobs flew by, but now I can't believe I've been back to work for two weeks already! And while I'll be working 6 days this week, they are sure to fly by as classes start Monday--it's the busiest week of the year!

Of course, ever since I started back to work, my reading has seriously suffered. I'd forgotten what it's like to be in retail--in the evenings after getting home, I've been so exhausted that nearly every time I sit down to read I fall asleep. I've managed to make it through two print books and one audio book in the last two weeks--I used to be a 3-4 books per week girl, easily! So naturally, I'm feeling guilty about my decreased productivity, even though I know I shouldn't. It's not as if I've totally fallen off the face of the earth, right? :-) But I have to admit I rather miss my desk job, when I had the hour lunch breaks that would afford me enough time to get through a nice chunk of whatever book I was reading at the time...

After a day off yesterday and finishing up one book earlier in the day, I sat down last night to start a book that I'll be reviewing for a TLC book tour--Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch. For once I wasn't exhausted and I almost felt my old reading-self coming back as I made it through 70-80 pages in a sitting before heading to bed. I'm hopeful that after this crazy-busy week I'll be re-accustomed to being on my feet all day and won't be so utterly exhausted in the evenings that I can barely function. Then perhaps I might get through two books per week again! But you know what, I've decided not to push myself or beat myself up if I can't read as much as I want to.

One bonus through all this--I'm discovering the fun of listening to audio books! For some reason I was always prejudiced against them. I preferred to hold a book in my hand and read it that way, page by page. There's nothing like the smell of a new book, you know? But now I find that commuting isn't so terrible when I'm able to listen to a book during the drive. And the quality of the reader can really influence your opinion of a book, don't you think? If you read my review for Wormwood by G. P. Taylor earlier this week, you'll know I wasn't necessarily nuts about the story, but was blown away by the reading, which made it more bearable. What I'm discovering with my current audio book, 8th Confession by James Patterson, is that I don't really care for the reader but the story is so good that I'm still able to enjoy the book.

So for all of you who listen to audio books, do you have any recommendations for me? I need to build my collection up or make a trip to the library soon...

Happy Reading!