what I'm reading

Alicia does brief posts wherein she says what book she’s currently reading.  I’ve been flirting with doing something similar except, well, what I’m currently reading constantly changes.  This is largely because I start and stop books frequently, tossing aside books that seemed interesting but are not.  Sometimes it’s because I’m catching up on my O magazine (yes, I actually read that now…I don’t even know what to say about it except I also have Oprah on my season pass list) or House Beautiful or I have entered a reading slump.

I am currently in a reading slump.  I read pretty voraciously, going through 90+ books per year, but sometimes–and it’s usually during the summer or winter breaks–I just kind of don’t read.  I can’t find anything interesting or the books I get seem unappealing.  And it’s not that I don’t want to read them, but there’s always something else I could be doing.

At any rate, even when I’m in a reading slump, I am reading something, even if it’s taking me eons longer to get through said something than usual.  So.  What I’m currently reading, annotated.

• Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier – I am reading this for my dissertation (topic:  representations of female friendship in ya lit).  It’s been about two years since I’ve read it, and I have to say I am enjoying it a lot this time around.  Mostly, I am completely in love with Dimple’s parents who are completely amazing.  Both Gwyn and Dimple are infuriating at times (so very infuriating), but her mom and dad are so adorable and delightful, and I love them both lots and lots.
• Girl Friends #1: Draw the Line by Nicole Grey – I have read a lot of book series in my life.  A lot.  This series is one of my absolute favorites.  I am talking definitely in the top three.  First of all, the five featured girls are so diverse, which is something I hungered for a lot as a teenager.  (And by diverse, I mean only one is white.  ONE.  OUT OF FIVE.)  So, yes, there are five main girls, and even though Janis (the white character) is listed first on the back of the book, the first character we meet is Stephanie Ling, then Maria Torres, then cousins Cassandra and Natalie Bell, and then Janis.  Amazing.  And although the books deal with a lot of issues (relationship violence, drug abuse, racism, school shootings–pre-Columbine, mind), they aren’t preachy AT ALL.  The only thing I don’t like about the series is that it was only ten books, and it ended with several cliffhangers.  That is not on.  Also, the books are seriously out of print, so it’s not like I can really get anyone else hooked on them.  For shame.  They are delightful.  So fantastic.  I keep stopping and starting reading the book, but since I know how everything turns out, I keep telling myself that’s okay.  (The author’s new website is here.)
• Prom Kings and Drama Queens by Dorian Cirrone – I just started this the other day, and it’s a fast read.  I picked it up because I liked the author’s book Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You, which did interesting things with gender, so I’m curious to see how this one will go.

• Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch – Honestly, this has probably been the biggest drain on my interest in reading novels for the past week.  The book is huge and kind of overwhelming, but I have taken a targeted approach to it by reading up on the conditions I’m most interested in.

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling as read by Jim Dale – My daughter and I are listening to the entire series on audiobook in the car.  We just finished book four , and I have to say the audiobooks are a lot of fun.  I don’t like Jim Dale’s Hermione, but she’s distinctive, and we always know it’s her even before he reads the tag announcing that it is.  Honestly, that’s my only complaint about the books. My daughter doesn’t like reading the Harry Potter books from the page, but loves hearing them read to her.  The bonus is that I get to reread the books as she reads them for the first time.

I should be finished with Born Confused in the next couple of days, and I’m guessing that once I am, my slump will be over.  Because then I’ll be avoiding work, and that’s one of my favorite times to read.