A Summer Snapshot

NY1 reports that it is 93 degrees. The cats are stretched out on the floor-- as long as they can be-- in front of the inadequately buzzing fan.

I'm reading School Library Journal, The New York Times, Gmail, Web Mail, Outlook, Facebook and Goodreads updates, while registering for a Webinar and creating a Fall book order on Follett Titlewave on my computer.

My iPad is at arm's length, opened to the Flipbook app. My Android mobile is next to it, opened to the Tour de France app. Ann Patchett's State of Wonder, deluxe signed edition, waits expectantly for me to turn the page.

Not too long ago I used to worry that reading more than one book at a time was some mild form of adult ADHD. Now it is S.O.P. The level of activity detailed above is the new normal for me and many others I know; the beginning, middle and end of most days. Granted, it usually doesn't last that long --tabs, apps and devices are pared down as the relevant information is digested or disseminated -- but it does occur, more than a few times a day, with varying duration. If it doesn't, I don't consider myself informed or productive or a good friend.

Yet, it may explain why my masseuse friend described me as "wearing my shoulders as earrings" and my tension level in mid-July doesn't feel much different than mid-June. Did I mention that this is Summer Vacation?

Current Read

Somewhere along the line I have become a person that reads more than one book at a time. Right now I'm reading "Trans-Sister Radio" by Chris Bohjalian, "Pretty Monsters" by Kelly Link (just started) and finishing "Taft" by Ann Patchett.

Read "The Double Bind" and "Before You Know Kindness" by Bohjalian earlier this summer and enjoyed them, but "Trans-Sister" is no "Middlesex". I have enjoyed Kelly Link's work in the past and am excited that she is writing for Young Adults. Anne Patchett, as far as I am concerned, cannot write them fast enough. "Taft" was the only one I hadn't read -- sadly, now I must wait for the next one.

What did you read this summer?