Reading

I started getting into pleasure reading (you know, reading-for-fun??) recently, and I am so glad I made the push to do so.

I can't remember the last time I picked up a book I WANTED to read, and didn't have to micro-analyze and prepare a 15-page report on.....works cited and everything.

Since I graduated from college, that duty has (fortunately) completely dropped off of my shoulders. But still, the stuff I was picking up and reading, was all very technical stuff. A lot of car stuff, automotive content, studying up to meet status quo with my new job. Admittedly, it can get pretty heavy and a bit dry, like a dump truck just backed over you to unload a miniature mountain of sawdust.

So about two weeks ago, I sat my happy self down and searched online for local libraries to sweep. After a trip to Barnes and Noble with my family while visiting them for a weekend, I found one particular book I wanted to read. I hunted for it in the local libraries in Ohio. All libraries, except for the one clear on the eastern side of Columbus, past the airport, were checked out of the book.

Argh.

I splurged the extra ten bucks and ended up just buying the book from Barnes and Noble instead of renting it from a library - a risky move since I was buying something I had never even so much as opened the cover to, before.

And you know what? I LOVE the book. I am having a riot of a time reading it. I am only 53 pages into it, and already I think it will land on my Facebook profile under 'Books' where I choose to list only my very very favorite ones. :-)

It's called Truck: A Love Story, and it's written by a guy that grew up in Wisconsin. I wanted to read this book because I got the impression that it'd be about the author himself, and him sharing various life stories he has - milestones, weird days, simple amusements. The running theme would be that all the while, this rusted out old 1951 International pickup truck was right there with him in his life, loyal as a puppy. I wanted to get a peek at the kind of relationship he had with this dear old vehicle - because I could very much relate, with what I have going on with my Volkswagen!

Pair that up with chancing most of his stories taking place in Wisconsin, and I was hooked.

Now that I started reading the book, I can say that so far, my impressions were dead on - I really cherish this book. (Beetle, I'm doing this for YOU!) *Insert jubilant fist pump here*

I bring it to work with me and read it over lunch when I don't have anyone to sit and talk with. I go outside to the patio to get a half hour of sunshine (vitamin D for your skin, mmmm!), and read. On Saturday mornings, my quick-on-the-rise favorite pasttime is sitting up and just reading in bed, starting my day out real nice and slow, listening to the birds and the steady morning activity in the neighborhood.

I love the author's writing style - VERY tongue-in-cheek and poignant. Often I am rocking in my chair, chuckling to myself over the words my eyes are dancing across in the book. I'm clueless to anyone sitting around me, peering over their shoulder wondering what I might be laughing about. :-) And yes, already, I feel a heart-to-heart with this author and how he feels and refers to his truck. I am cookie-cutter the same way, towards my sweet ol' Volkswagen. (She's 12 years old this year. They grow up so fast, don't they?!?! *Sniff, sniff*)

Reading is relaxing and a good chance for some 'me' time. I'm quite pleased with it, and I just stacked up about five more books to get in line, to read next. (They're all books I've already owned and reread several times, though - so another trip to a Barnes and Noble will be tempting!)

I think I might down a few chapters tonight, actually...... :-)