Now Reading...

I live in a pretty small town.
The library here, while it has come a long way, still has a ways to go.
The new acquisitions are limited, any current book, DVD, or magazine has a huge waiting list, and most of the people you see there are frightening (sorry, everyone- but it's true.)
The new release section can be life threatening and I have been assaulted there more than once. (Ya, sure it was an "accident", granny. I'm on to you.)

Everything is very hit and miss and any Oprah Book Club Selection would have at least 50 people ahead of you waiting to get their grubby little hands on it.
Plus, I'm still waiting for Tori Spelling's third book to come in.
We got the first two, but not the third.
Weird, random, and annoying.

So ever since Mindy Kaling's book came out, I have been searching the library catalog (now online!) to see if it would be making it's way into my home any time soon.
Sadly, no books by Ms. Kaling to be found.
I checked almost every few days for the last two months. I have found that if it doesn't show up within a few weeks of the release date, it's not gonna happen.
Plan B is to wait a really long time until everyone else on the planet has already read it and then scour Ebay for the best deal.
I had pretty much given up on this one (at least for any time in 2012.)
Then, the other night, in a fit of insomnia induced insanity, I decided to check again... just for laughs.

YAY! It was there! It was being processed!
I immediately cancelled one of the other books I had on hold (we are only allowed to request 10 items at a time) and went to request it and get on the waiting list.
The book was still in cataloging, and not available to be wait listed.
This was good and bad.
The good thing was there weren't already 100 people ahead of me in line. The bad news, I was gonna have to keep checking back repeatedly until it moved from processing to on the shelf. This must be my week because it happened surprisingly quick for this Podunk place and
I am #1!!!
The first in line, no one ahead of me, making it's way to my library holding shelf as we speak.
It's the little things, people.
This made me really super super happy! Yes, I know, I'm a total dork and specifically book nerd.
Maybe next time I'll tell you about the library gang I started just to keep the DVD shelf a safe place for old and young alike.

So I can't wait for that to come in and the day I can go and actually check it out.

But what I'm currently "reading" now is actually an audio book.
I know you're thinking CD or MP3, but think again. We're talking TAPE, ladies and gents. That's right TAPE. An actual book on TAPE.
I go through phases where I get really into listening to books and I'm in one now.
The problem is, my STUPID car has a 6 CD changer in the trunk.

I don't know who thought this was a good idea, but I would like to kick them in the shins.
Pretty much every CD I've ever owned has skipped in this car, and CD's that play fine in any other player will skip or not play, etc. It's so frustrating, many times I have come close to ripping the whole thing out the dash. (Why is driving with headphones on illegal? Why?!)

The last few book CD's I listened to were getting worse and worse so I had to figure something else out.
Fortunately, my crazy old and inefficient car stereo system also still has a tape deck.
And my library, as archaic as it is, still offers many, many cassettes. Problem solved.

And, I can switch back and forth from audio book to CD when I feel like listening to music instead without having to get into my trunk. The only downside is the tapes are really old and have a weird white noise background so I have to turn it up pretty loud to hear. I'm probably blowing out my speakers doing this, I guess I just can't win. But so far, so good.

So I can read actual books in bed, listen to books on tape in my car, and use the CD audio books at work, where nothing skips and I don't have to rewind every 10 seconds just to follow the plot.
I actually do love listening to books in the car. You would be surprised how fast you can get through an average sized book when you listen to it while running all your errands, commuting to work, etc. I really feel like I've accomplished something besides just wasting time.
Plus, I love being read to...it's so soothing and relaxing. Brings me back to childhood.
(Again, why should little ones have all the fun?)

Right now I am listening to 1984. I have read this before but not for a very long time. I have of wanted to re-read it for a while, so this works out good because I can read it, without having to actually re-read it.

If you haven't discovered this one yet, I highly recommend it. It's a classic, but not boring. You will get completely swept up in the world of Big Brother, Winston Smith, and thought police. Plus, it's the year I was born so I've always liked that.
I just gave away my age, didn't I? Ah man, I was gonna start lying about that too.
It's so cool that a book written in 1948 can still be so relevant today.
Definitely worth reading if you haven't already.


The next actual/physical book I'm going to start is The Nobodies Album.
I heard it was good. Haven't started it yet, but plan to this week.
Anyone read this one already?