Stuck...

"Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feelin' that somethin' ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wonderin' how I'll get down the stairs

Clowns to the left of me,
Joker's to the right,
Here I am Stuck in the middle with you
Yes I'm, Stuck in the middle with you

And I'm wonderin' what it is I should do,
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face,
Losin' control, yeah I'm all over the place.

Clowns to the left of me,
Joker's to the right,
Here I am Stuck in the middle with you"
                                                               -Steve Miller Band

I've decided to share this song for two reasons today: 1) It's awesome; and 2) I'm stuck. I'm stuck on a book that I can't seem to really read. It's upsetting because I've been "reading" it for three days now and I'm not even over the 100 page mark! That's not like me at all. And since I've been in this funk it's taken all the creativity out of me, hence why I haven't even posted for the last two days. Garg. The book is Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff.

It's so weird because I heard such good things about it and I was really excited when I picked it up from the library...but it's so dry and dull so far. I find myself not wanting to read during my lunch break (which never happens) and when I start to read before bedtime I get tired REALLY quickly and find my eyes suddenly becoming overly heavy. Next thing you know I'm out!

Maybe it's just one of those books that really take off after the first 100 pages? I don't know. Has anyone else read this book? I don't want to give up on it because it's been a long time since I've done that with any book but...

I'll keep trying for now.

Oh but while I'm here I might as well remind everybody to enter my GIVEAWAY!! Remember you have until April 20 to do so, so you better get cracking :)

Non-Fiction Used to be My Lover

You know, it's really hard to be a blogger when your home internet decides not to work every other day...

Well anywho!

It seems lately I’ve been on this non-fiction book kick. I don’t know why but I think everyone reads in their own little genre spurts. Non-fiction books used to be my one and only love but the beginning of last year I got into the classics. And I’ve been in love ever since. Not that classics are now all I read of course, but they’re by far the majority. Usually it’ll go classic, classic, literary fiction, classic, non-fiction…and the cycle repeats. Although this does all depend on the whims of the Chicago Public Library and when they feel the urge to divulge the wonderful books I’ve placed on hold. So if a non-fiction book I placed on hold a month ago suddenly becomes available I have no choice but to break my pattern. I simply MUST read it. I must!

But lately I just needed the non-fic back in my life. I think part of the problem was that the classics I have read recently haven’t been as wholly awesome as I have wanted them to be. Not that they have been bad, but they have mostly been in the 3 star range. Then came Isaac’s Storm and that was close to a 5 star book. It reminded me of how great my non-fiction lover could be!

So I strayed from my pattern and picked up one of my birthday books: American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson. It was a memoir (and really what a treat, I’ll be writing my review later this week). Now I’m reading another non-fiction. Part true crime, part just a simple story of the Texas legal system and a lawyer’s life called The Autobiography of an Execution by David R. Dow. Next up: Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff. I know you all have to have heard of that one!

I know after these I’ll go back to my pattern but it does feel nice to shake things up every once in a while, you know? Hopefully I’ll return back into the foray of classics with a great one. A feminist one? Suggestions?