Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Book Talk

Monday night was library night, but things were slow. Only two people came in during the entire three hours . I had a few books to shelve and then spent the rest of my time browsing through the titles and reading my latest book. I managed to finish The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King while I was there.

I love books about the South and Southern women. Some of the best books I've ever read have been about the modern day South. Beach Music by Pat Conroy is one of my all time favorites. Another that I love is Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes, and if you've never read the Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love, you sure need to give it a try. If you like that one then you'll probably love God Save the Sweet Potato Queens and Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner). (I do think that you have to be over 40 to truly appreciate the Sweet Potato Queens.)

I belong to two book groups on Ravelry that I'm enjoying very much. One group is Book Challenge and the other is the Ravelry Book Club. Book Challenge keeps track of the books the group reads each month and adds them to a list on goodreads.com. Some of the members give great reviews of the books they read, and my to read list grows a little more each day. With the Ravelry Book Club I've read novels that I might not have read otherwise. The Thirteenth Tale and A Thousand Splendid Suns were both excellent books. Now we're reading Here Be Dragons which has been a little more difficult for me to get into. It's certainly not going to be a quick read like the other two, but I will finish it. Next month we're scheduled to read Middlesex which is another example of a book I might not have heard of or read without the Club.

Thanks for the comments. I wish I'd posted about my problem earlier, but I've always had a difficult time sharing information like that. It's great to be able to talk about it with y'all. Luckily, this new medicine and the Extra Strength Tylenol have helped the pain and swelling in my hands. It makes me sleepy, though, and I'm a little woozy right now. Maybe I'll have a good night's sleep for a change.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Golden Oldie Doesn't Crochet Anymore

I wonder if I can change the name of the blog because I don't have much hope of crocheting again anytime soon.The arthritis pain has developed in my hands, and I can't hold a crochet very well anymore. Right now I'm using the two finger typing method because it hurts my wrists to type properly. The pain seems to be getting worse instead of better, and I know that I can no longer delay a trip to the rheumatologist. Of course it will probably be the end of May or the first of June before I'll be able to get an appointment. The Snyder doctor gave me a prescription for Tramadol, but it doesn't have much effect on the pain.
I have been doing a lot of reading lately rather than crocheting and watching TV. With the writers' strike this season and so many reruns and reality shows on TV instead, I had pretty much lost interest in any of the shows I once watched. Books have become my obsession rather than patterns and yarn.
I volunteer at our little local library on Monday evenings from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. A few come in to use the Internet and I've even checked out a few books for others, but the majority of my time is spent reading or browsing through the shelves. It's a very pleasent way to spend an evening.
I don't have any special type of novel that I'm reading right now. I just go with whatever strikes my fancy. A few retired teachers I know only read the trashy romance novels (their words, not mine), but I have to have something that has a good story to it. About the only thing I won't read is nonfiction, especially those self-help books. I think I'm beyond help, and I don't need a book to make me feel inadequate.
I hope the rheumy can help me deal with the pain. It's hard to imagine having to feel like this for the remainder of my life. My mother suffered from arthritis in her later years. I never knew how badly she hurt until I begin experiencing the same symptoms. I wish I had been more sympathetic to her condition.