Addicted to GoodReads.com

When I was in high school I remember having a conversation where I discovered a guy I liked had also read "The Stand" by Stephen King (I read it because my mom is a big fan of the author, and we both had watched the mini-series together. I think Molly Ringwald was a main character -- it was on in the mid-1990s). I asked if he read the whole thing (because I put it down about 7/8 of the way through it) and he laughed at me for suggesting he hadn't finished a book.

I was reminded of this 13 years later as I was updating my list on GoodReads of books I've read, books I'm reading, and books on my to read list. Sadly, some of the ones I'm "reading" I've been reading for a long long time, such as "Midnight's Children" and "Thunderstruck." Well, not so much reading as waiting for time to finish them. There are a few others on that list from as recently as this winter, when I only had maybe 50 pages left and some that have been unopened for a lot longer (since I left Boston, circa June 2004).

I also used to work at a book store, and would buy so many books using my employee discount I didn't really keep up, but I did manage to get through a few of them on my breaks at the store, or I'd just have more time to read because I had a shorter commute in my car (which should be the case after I move closer to downtown in October). Ironically, if I'm using that right, when I had long commutes via bus or subway or trolley in other cities, that was when I did the bulk of my reading. But now I don't think the other people on the road would appreciate being behind the reader.

Maybe books on tape is the answer. :)

But for whatever reason, I'm so excited about the existence of this site. Just yesterday a friend e-mailed me to join GoodReads; now I find myself constantly thinking of books to add. Maybe having this support group of other readers will get me back into reading the ones I have that say "to read" and "reading," and inspire me to add a few others to my list.

And if you haven't already, check it out for yourself and see what the fuss is about -- www.goodreads.com.

LOL chat...

Oh, the lolcats. If I keep up blogging, I'll probably add one or two now and then. Here's the link:

http://icanhascheezburger.com/2008/07/20/funny-pictures-cat-moustache/

Olympics... 2010!

So there's this thing wrapping up pretty soon called the Olympics in Beijing. Yes, I've watched a number of events. I don't have cable, so I've missed whatever wasn't good enough for the NBC network station, but I've definitely been entertained.

But in commenting on my friends' blog, I remembered that Matt and I have been talking about going to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. And, the mascots for it are super cute!

http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot/en/

is the link to see the mythical creatures based on legends of the West Coast First Nations -- a sea bear, that is a whale in the water, and a bear on land; a sasquatch who likes hockey and taking photos; and an animal spirit who "wears the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the mighty thunderbird and runs on the strong furry legs of the black bear." It sounds a little kooky, but I think it's fun. They even have a little movie.