She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain

I'm reading the most boring Agatha Christie novel I've ever picked up. I guess for a person so prolific, there has to be a stinker every once in a while. It's so slow-moving. I'm trying to decide whether or not to abandon it. But I'm already halfway through it.

The best book I've read so far this year is Steve Martin's memoir, Born Standing Up. I haven't yet read a novel that I'm really wild about. Of course, when Jodi Picoult's new one, Change of Heart, comes out next week, that'll be my favorite for a while.

I re-read Pride & Prejudice last week, just for fun. I love it, and I love all Jane Austen's other books, but Mansfield Park is still my favorite. (And not just because Facebook informs me that I am most like Fanny Price.) I'd love to re-read all of Jane Austen this year, but that may be pushing it, considering all the other stuff I want to read, and need to read.

I ended up enjoying Dark Tower #5--it had some really great moments. And I thought I needed to start #6 right away, but what I really needed was a break from it. Because the Dark Tower is . . . well, it's dark. And heavy. So that one's been put to the side for a little while. I've got a beautiful illustrated version of Clive Barker's YA book, Abarat, sitting on my shelf, as well as Laura Ingraham's Power to the People. And I'm in the middle of IT, which is very long, and also very large and heavy (literally), so I can't carry it anywhere. It has to stay home.

I've got this weird habit now of reading while I'm watching TV. You know, reading during the commercials and the boring parts. I like TV for background noise, anyway. Call it multi-tasking. I can read and watch TV and remember what happened in both, but I can't watch TV and get on the computer and be efficient at both. I either get really into what I'm doing on the computer and have no idea what's on TV, or I don't really pay attention to the computer.

I've totally lost track of how I'm doing with my goal. I know I've read 17 books this year so far, but I have no idea how that breaks down to know what my pace needs to be. I'll have to sit down with a calendar and a calculator and figure it out. I'm probably a little behind, but that's okay. I've got ten months to make it up.

I can't wait for that book. You know, THE book. My Whale Season or The Thirteenth Tale for this year. The book that is so amazing, it stays with me for days and days, and I desperately begin searching stores for it, if I don't already own it. That's the kind of book I'd like to write, and it's my favorite to read and force on everyone I know. Last year, I had those two. What will it be this year?