Reading list

Trying to fit in reading time in my life right now is as difficult sometimes as trying to fit in a full night's rest or even a sound nap. It's just one of the things that happens in motherhood; inevitably treasured hobbies or past times get lost or forgotten; pushed back in place of more imperative things.

Something as simple as sitting down with a good book becomes a luxury instead of a right once you have children.

Taking such things for granted in my early days, I read with such zeal. I could finish a whole book in one day, a fat book in 2. By the weeks end, I could have gone through literally 3 or 4 books.

I remember in middle school, I had a 'friend' who shared my love of reading and we would have our little contests: See which one of us could read the most books in a school week. While the downtime in home room in middle school (a time where everyone had to be reading in wait for the end of the school day bell) was an annoyance for many of our classmates, it was a favorite time of the day for us. We would have a different book almost everyday to sink our noses into. And of course we lived at the library, as selecting our next book to read was just as much fun as actually reading it.

Now I relish in my solitude times as I get to fit in even a couple of hours of reading. Anytime I can, I open my book to read.

As it turns out, my zest for reading has just recently resurfaced in the past year of so. As I found my time dwindling taking care of babies, with very little time for myself, I kind of gave up on reading too much beyond a magazine.

But once I discovered my local town library and saw their vast selection of ENGLISH books, I was in love all over again. How could I not take advantage? Especially seeing as that Costa Rica is Spanish speaking country and my library is fairly small compared to libraries up north that I am used to. The fact that their selection in fiction and leisure books rival that of a book store, I thank my lucky stars. I had to find time to read all those wonderful books, enticing me, calling out to me. Besides other mothers found the time to read, why couldn't I?

I signed up for a card (something I had been missing here in Costa Rica and a simple procedure) and started 'renting' books from the library once a week. And because the time you have to borrow a book here is so short, literally less than 2 weeks, you really have to be a fast reader, especially when you have little time to do so.

Right now I am reading 'Under The Tuscan Sun' by Frances Mayes. I can spend a vast amount of time selecting the perfect book to lose myself in. I just happened on this book and thought "Well, I did like the movie".

It's not much like the movie but a damn good read and to top it off, it has some simple Italian recipes inside. Two I will definitely try to make are the ravioli (store bought) with butter and sage and the peach tart (except I'll make mine an apple one).

It's such a good book, with exceptional writing, it's inspired me to get back to my own writing as well. For as much as I love books and love to read, it would be a pity if I weren't a writer as well.

Here is a list of a few of my favorite books and ones I have loved reading:

Waiting to Exhale by Terry Macmillan
The Lord of The Rings, The Fellowship of the rings
The Terrorists of Irustan by Louise Marley
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Kiss of the Spider woman by Manuel Puig
Small Island by Andrea levy
The Green Mile by Stephen King
Marley and Me (slipping the author's name)
The Nanny Diaries (author???)
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
Whitney My Love (I forget the author)

And so many others I'll have to rack my brain (and make another list).... But you get the point. I LOVE to read. And whenever the mood strikes, I head over to my section of the library (the English section), carefully select a book that speaks to me after reading the back and perusing a sentence or 2 and then finally taking my treasure home to please my mind and play tricks with my imagination for a few days while I get lost in a another world, time or place (if only for a few hours a day).