Friday Five - Books

I am not digging this whole working on Friday thing (and thus, not getting my Friday Five done in a timely manner!) I think I'm going to have to start taking my laptop to work with me on Fridays and working on it over my lunch break. But enough griping...

Today's Friday Five touches on another of my all-time favorite topics - books! I generally can't get enough books, and it's been this way for as long as I can remember. Even when I was young, my brother and cousins would get toy airplanes and other stuff for Christmas, and all I would want is a stack of books. My grandmother would usually feel bad that I didn't have any toys, so she would get me the same thing she got the guys, but it usually went un-touched (or the guys would take it after one of theirs broke!) because all I wanted was my books!

What books have you recently read? Tell us your opinion of them. Unfortunately, I haven't done a ton of pleasure reading lately, most of it has been my texts for CPE. One fun one I found as a free Kindle download that I've really enjoyed was "Stuck in the Middle" by Virginia Smith. It's a little bit cheesy and predictable, but doesn't require a whole lot of mental investment to enjoy it. It's the first of a trilogy so I will probably get the others soon.

What books are awaiting your available time to be read? The newest one by Jan Karon, the new one or two by Joanne Fluke, the second of the "Miss Julia" books, and anything Janet Evanovich might be coming out with. Also, the next two of the Virginia Smith trilogy. I'm keeping a good list of stuff I want to get before vacation in April! I have a few leftovers from my last beach vacation in September that I haven't gotten to and one of the Mrs. Murphy mysteries my step-mom gave me, but none of them are really tugging at me right now. Harry Potter is somewhere on the radar, but I may put that one in my audio book list!

Have any books been recently recommended? The Resilient Practitioner, which is a guide for self-care for those in the "high touch" professions. It's more work reading than pleasure reading, but I enjoyed what I saw of it and am looking forward to digging into it more in the weeks to come.

Also, Hinds Feet on High Places. It's not something I would have chosen for myself, but I'm enjoying it none the less. It's going to take me a little time to get through it because it's not "fluff" and it's very thought provoking, but I can see this becoming an important part of my personal library. I still haven't decided if I can say I am enjoying it or simply appreciating it.

What genre of books are your favorites, along with some titles/authors you enjoy? I don't know if I necessarily have a favorite genre, but I classify them as "fluff" because they are typically fiction and don't require a whole lot of attention or intentional engagement. Right now my favorites are Jan Karon, Janet Evanovich, and Joanne Fluke. I'd love to get back into reading some stuff by Beverly Lewis and maybe even more Nicholas Sparks. But for now, I will stick to whatever I have the time and/or funds for (which right now is not much on either account!)

What have you read lately that you have a strong urge to recommend? Nothing really jumping out at me right now. Like I said, most everything has been pastoral care texts. If you need some thoughts on those, let me know!

Bonus thoughts: Are you a book purist or do you embrace the digital? I got my Kindle about 3 years ago when they were brand new. And I have really loved it. My husband loves the fact that it's that many less books he has to try and find a home for or move! I have since gotten the Kindle app for my computer (not ideal, but it works) and my iPhone. I ADORE having it on my phone because I always have something to read. Waiting just about anywhere doesn't really bother me anymore because I am never bored! Have to sit for an hour at the restaurant waiting for a table? No problem! Gonna be 45 more minutes at the oil change place? Fine! Stuck in an elevator at work? Doesn't bother me a bit! The only down side is that I can't (ok, won't) use it for professional stuff. I like to be able to make my notes in the margins and put my sticky notes in and spread it out in front of me while I work. I still love beautiful, classic hardback books. And children's/picture books MUST be "real" books, but for my own stuff, digital is the way to go for me!

Self Care for the Week - Therapy on Wednesday. This week was good, but hard. I'm curious about the way next week will go. It sort of feels like watching a wreck on the highway. You know it's going to be messy but you can't help but be interested!