Tampa Book Buzz

recent observations

Here are a few random thoughts that have been rolling around in my head recently:

*Reading is a necessity, like breathing, eating and sleeping. During the recent hectic craziness of my life I’ve concentrated on those other three and all but abandoned reading. I feel weird. Unsettled. Off balance. I bought Cell by Stephen King a few days ago and have managed to read a few pages. I can feel that off-balance uneasiness slipping away…

*Thank goodness for my Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club, which forces me to read at least one book a month. I say “forces” only because honoring my obligation to the book club is the only reason I’ve made time to read a few books over the last couple of months.

*Bookstores are magical, wonderful places. No matter how stressed out, depressed, upset, or otherwise mood-impaired I am, a brief stroll through a bookstore cheers me right up.

*People can be judgmental about literary tastes. I’ve never claimed that I’ve had taste — literary or fashion or otherwise — and I freely admit that I love to read anything and everything. Two weeks ago I had jury duty and spent a mind-numbing eight hours reading. Reading for hours on end at home stretched out on the sofa in your jammies is one thing; doing it in an uncomfortable chair surrounded by strangers waiting for the bailiff to call your name is quite another.

I brought a tote bag full of magazines with me, to catch up on my reading. No one noticed me (that I could tell, anyway) when I was reading Time, Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly or Jane. But when I was reading Sirens of Cinema:The Women of Television & Movies, Rue Morgue or my Buffy and Angel magazines, well, that was a different story. Total strangers stared at me and commented on my reading choices. One woman, after commenting that she used to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer on TV, made a lame joke about my being an obsessed fan if I’m reading a magazine about it. To which I proudly replied “yes” and then moved to a different seat.