Three Books At A Time

One of my many television shows is Child Genius (it follows Dance Mom's on Lifetime). The little girl I'm rooting for (Yeji, age 11) reads TEN BOOKS A WEEK. Holy Cow. I cannot imagine what it would be like to raise THAT girl. But I love her because she is always shocked by how much she knows....not full of herself, but more surprised by her knowledge.

That's the POWER OF BOOKS. (OMG...it sounds like I'm comparing myself to a child genius...which I certainly am NOT).

But I don't JUST watch television.  I have been an avid reader all my life...and I am usually reading three books at once.

I am ALWAYS have a book on tape going in my car.  Because I live in the country -- it's always at least an hour to get where I'm going (and back).  Sometimes, if it's a really good book, I just drive around aimlessly....

Books on Tape are MY FRIEND. THEY ALSO KEEP ME ON TASK when I need to be cleaning in my kitchen, or walking on my treadmill (this has not happened nearly enough lately).

 This is the car book I just finished listening to....

 I finally read the first book in the Elm Creek series. The Quilter's Apprentice: A Novel (The Elm Creek Quilts) Paperback – October 21, 2008 by Jennifer Chiaverini. I LOVED IT...and am sooo looking forward to the entire series.

I was listening to this book when I took the day trip to Starving Rock State Park.

Falling From Horses by Molly Gloss is a great example of LEARNING while reading. Set in 1939, a young man moves to Hollywood to become a movie cowboy. He becomes friends with Lilly, a young woman who wants to become a screenwriter.

I loved the characters in the book, and I trusted the research the author did about the time and place. When they were making all those western movies, in the big chase scenes, the hero would ride like the wind down a well-marked path...while the Indians and/or posse chasing him would be subject to hidden trip wires. So all those falls often meant broken legs for the horses...

I just started reading this book. Lin from TMBC gave it to me...It's the book that I read when I'm sitting in my chair. (the chair-sitting is going to kill me...it's been a long winter)...The chair book is usually a paperback, because it's the one I grab when I'm leaving the house....especially if I'm on my way to a waiting room someplace!!

THIS is my bathroom book. AND IT IS SUCH AN INTERESTING BOOK....

THIS is the book about the man who was really the reason for the Singer fortune. Edward Clark. He was the attorney who kept the shyster Isaac Singer out of jail. And, because Singer didn't have a nickel, Edward did the work in exchange for 50% of the patent.

Edward Clark was the  real brains of the Singer Sewing Machine Company.  He was the quiet, hard-working businessman -- the incredible free thinker who came up with INSTALLMENT PURCHASING...which changed the landscape of retail shopping forevermore.

These two men were complete opposites.  They were as night is to day.  A womanizer and a Sunday School Teacher.  Edward Clark lived a quiet life in New York City with his wife and four sons.  Isaac Singer (who Mrs. Clark would not allow in her home) had mistresses and illegitimate children all over the world.

Edward walked to the office every day...

Isaac??  His transportation around town was an opulent carriage that could seat 31 people.  It took 9 horses to pull it -- and it had a separate smoking room AND a nursery.

OMG...is that the very first RV??