Currently Reading

Happy May Day! It’s a gorgeous morning, the sky is blue, the trees are flowering…

Goddamn flowering trees. I hate them. My husband and I both have horrible allergies and have been miserable the last few days.

…they sure are pretty!

Today starts the beginning of Tee’s May Book Challenge, which I introduced yesterday. We are kicking it off by discussing what we are currently reading.

People ask me what I’m reading all the time, and that’s always an interesting question. Why? Because I’m never just reading one book. I always have 3-4 books going. Here goes:

1. My Home Book–This is my main book, usually the most challenging of the four, the one I really want to put all of my focus on. Right now, this book is John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. I’m about a third of the way through it, and I’m really enjoying it.

2. My Brain Candy–This book is something I read much faster, usually on breaks at work, and it’s on my phone for in between times when I don’t have anything to do. This kind of book takes me 2-3 hours to finish usually. I just finished Unbearable Lightness yesterday, so I’m not sure what is next for this category.

3. My Audiobook–I have a love/hate relationship with this category. Why? Because the only time I can listen to audiobooks is when I’m a) doing chores b) exercising or c) stuck in bed with a migraine and not able to sleep. Otherwise, I’m not able to focus on the voice. I’d MUCH rather be reading words on a page than having someone else read the book to me. Because of this, I save books that I’ve tried to read myself and struggled with for this format. These are usually books with heavy accents or really long boring books. I read The Red Badge of Courage this way, because I had a really hard time with the way the southern accent was written. I just couldn’t “hear” it. Right now, I’m listening to Anna Karenina. Oh how I hate Russian Literature. It’s SO LONG. I haven’t gone back to it in almost a month now, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m giving up on it again. I’ve made it 17% through and there are 239 chapters to this thing! Good grief.

4. My Poetry Selection–Along side those four, I always have a book of poetry going. Usually in between chapters I’ll read a poem, then alternate. Most of it, I don’t care for, but every once in awhile I’ll find a good one and put it in my journal. Right now, I’m reading The Door by Margaret Atwood.

Whew! That’s it. Obviously, this list never stays the same for long. If you want to see my reading lists (and they are extensive, I’m slightly obsessive about them), check me out on Goodreads. You can click the link at the right, or here.

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Unbearable Lightness

Sometimes you pick up a book and learn something you absolutely did not expect. When I saw Portia de Rossi had a book out, I thought “Oh, neat! I don’t know much about her, except that she’s married to Ellen.” And I love Ellen! So of course I want to read her wife’s memoirs!

However, Ellen does not appear in the book until the Epilogue. If that is the only reason you are reading this…you’ll be disappointed. This is not about their relationship.

What I did not know about Portia is that she battled anorexia and bulimia from the time she was a teenager. She was a model and actress since she was 12, and she was constantly worried about her weight. I’ve heard about anorexia and bulimia in school and on TV, but I’ve never heard it described in such detail and through the mind of someone going through it. Portia does not hold back here, and this book is not for the lighthearted. I was all but in tears when she talked about being 37 kilos (81 pounds) and hardly being able to walk.

The Epilogue is encouraging. The good news is she did get better, and we’ve all seen her now. She’s gorgeous, and come on, she’s married to the most sunshiney person on earth. At least in their public persona (because no one knows what goes on behind closed doors), they are the happiest celebrity couple ever to be a celebrity couple. I wish them both the very best.