in my little world of reading these days...

Little may be the key word there, at least if we're talking a list of what I've gotten read. It seems to be taking me forever to finish a book these days. You know, I was thrilled a while back when I realized that I really could read more than one book at a time without becoming muddled and confused. But I think I've taken the idea too far, and now I'm reading so many at one time that it takes forever to finish anything.

This is the list of books I've currently got underway:
*The Tale of Despereaux (reading to the boys)
*When Santa Fell to Earth (reading as a family)
*The Secret Life of Germs (reading for homeschooling)
*Alice in Sunderland (my first venture into the world of graphic novels)
*The Cobra Event (started reading back in September(?) and still haven't finished, despite the fact that I'm enjoying it)
*M is for Magic (still trying to sneak in a short story here and there)
*A Christmas Carol (started reading this with Rich and Annie last night)
*American Gods (started this one yesterday, simply because I couldn't wait any longer)

I actually allowed myself to start American Gods because I finally finished up Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I won't review it, because I'm sure that anyone with any interest in reading these already has. And I should say that my failure to read this whole series before now has absolutely nothing to do with my feelings about them. I absolutely loved the first two, which I originally read almost eight years ago when I was pregnant with Gray. I'm sure no one really wants an in-depth tale of my battles with hyperemesis. Simple version: hyperemesis gravidarum is NOT morning sickness. It is like morning sickness in that occurs during pregnancy. But it is a truly debilitating condition, marked by non-stop nausea, persistent vomiting, weight loss, and severe dehydration. As I always say, it's the only effective weight loss plan I've ever found. Anyway, as with many other sufferers of hyperemesis, movement of any kind exacerbated things. Not just physical movement, but seeing movement (sort of like motion sickness). Watching TV was definitely not an option! In fact, aside from praying to die, trying to sleep as much as possible, and frequent hospitalizations for IV re-hydration, about the only think I could do was read (as long as I closed my eyes when turning the pages, that it).

And back to Harry Potter...it was during my battle with HG during my pregnancy with Gray that I first read the first two Harry Potter books. And though I thoroughly enjoyed them, I could never bring myself to read the subsequent ones as they came out. You know how it is after you have the flu, when you can't bring yourself to eat whatever it was that you ate right before it hit, for years afterwards? Same kind of thing. Any mention of Harry Potter could send my flying to bathroom.

But I'm happy to say, I'm finally past that stage, and hope to be enjoying the rest of the series throughout the coming year. Well, if I can ever finish all the other books I've got started, that is...