Thursday, August 25, 2011

First Fallish-feeling Morning of the Year

Since this is a blog based on books and reading (or at least that’s what it’s supposed to be about), I thought I would share that September 8th is International Literary Day. My Better Homes and Gardens magazine had some fun ideas about how to celebrate this. Here are my two favorite ideas: e-book swaps and websites to find new favorites.
 
If you think about my first suggestion for a second you really should point and laugh because I don’t actually have an e-reader. I have chosen not to get into this craze just yet. I love holding my books. I also understand all of the awesome benefits of the Kindle and Nook and all others, however, I just don’t think I’m ready. I love folding back pages, highlighting, and holding a book. Please ignore the fact that my entire job is based around encouraging and training physicians to “go paperless.” But, and this is a big one, my job is truly around change management and helping people adapt to these concepts. So I am giving myself what I give physicians who need it – time to accept and change. And that isn’t happening for me until this Christmas-ish. I decided this winter I will give this e-reader dilemma a chance…..maybe.
 
But back on topic, e-readers can check out ebookfling.com to swap books with Nook and Kindle users for free! You get to check out books from your friends for 14 days. I think this sounds cool. But for all of you out there not like me and stuck in the dark ages of paper books, I think we should do a swap! Who’s in? Wouldn’t it be fun to grab a few people and all agree to send one of our favorite books to another swappee for a month. This would just be to “rent” these books and the swappee would need to return the book to the swapper at some designated time. I think it sounds great!
 
And then I also can’t wait to check out Pulitzer.org and nationalbook.org to see what my new favorite book might be. Along the same lines of my willingness to change and try an e-reader this winter, I decided it might be time to try some new Fall favorites that are not written by John Steinbeck. Don’t gasp or try to persuade me otherwise because I’m ready to throw this idea out the window (along with any dumb book that isn’t Steinbeck) if you let me. I think you should hold me to it. There’s no reason that I should spend all of October reading The Winter of Our Discontent and East of Eden again (for the billionth time). So I’m going to try to a new book from one of these sites. See. I’m capable of change after all. Well, check in on me in a month.
 
Speaking of a month from now and one more change I wanted to share with you so that you can hold me to it, my friend has convinced me to buck up and really have some goals for my running. I have been running for years now, and running a consistent 3-5 miles daily or every other day for a couple of years. Actually typing it out shows how silly this is. I have argued and fought back whenever anyone has told me to try an organized run. Running is the one thing I do that I just let myself do – I’m not competing and I’m not letting it become something that I have to do on my checklist. I love running and don’t want to change that. But my friend pointed out on our same old four mile run this morning that these excuses are pretty lame. I couldn’t really argue.
 
Last year she did her first half marathon and she seems all giddy and happy about this fact all the time. So I decided that since I am actually a pretty giddy and happy person too, that maybe I would try it this year. So there. We are 50 days out from my very first half-marathon ever. And 50 days doesn’t leave much time for training, but it also doesn’t leave much time for scaring myself away from it and backing out. Training started today.
 
And here’s how I will celebrate when I’ve finished my first half marathon: I will buy a Kindle and download a book that is not by John Steinbeck and does not include the names Harry, Hermione, or Ron, and I will spend October reading that new book on my e-reader after I’ve sent one of you readers one of my favorites in our swap. Deal?
 

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