“What do you want to do this weekend?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“I want to sit here in the sun and read my book.”
“That’s something.”
“Yeah, it is isn’t it?”

Last week a friend asked me what I had been reading this winter. Maybe it’s age (or lack of sunlight) but I could only think of a couple of titles. So I went and took a peek at my booksheves to refresh my memory. My book club read The Known World (didn’t like it, too many characters and timeline flip-flops for my currently ADDish brain), Middlesex (a family epic deftly written and based here in the Detroit area), Eat, Pray, Love (a joy) and next up for us is The Pillars of the Earth. Hmm, I think those are all Oprah books, we don’t always read off her list but lately that seems to be the case. On my personal reading list was I Love You Beth Cooper (very funny writer, but the high school setting got old, or maybe I’m just old), Those Who Save Us (good mother/daughter relationship read), The Alchemist (a lovely little spiritual fable), The Painted Drum (if you appreciate lyrical writing like I do you’ll like this one). In the photo I’m reading The Camino (fascinating if you have an open mind), I enjoyed They Did It with Love (a lightweight murder mystery about a mystery book club) and the short stories in Alice Munro’s Runaway were wonderful. I read a couple from Jackie Mitchard recently, Cage of Stars (my fave of the two) and Still Summer (a high seas adventure that explores the nature of friendship). Jackie not only seamlessly weaves stories laced with heartbreaking characters and suspenseful plots, but she is an author who has always been generous and gracious to her fans. Click on her name and check out her fabulous website!

The holidays always slow down my page turning ways, plus I’m making an effort to finish my third book which means less time reading and more time writing. Those of you who voted for my #2 novel excerpt on Amazon, thank you, thank you, thank you! I didn’t make the final cut but it was encouraging to enter my first contest and garner a few of my own fans along the way:)