December 5, 2011

• Lost for a Day

  Not literally "lost for a day"...not like driving around backroads and trying to figure out where I was. Or lost in a blinding snowstorm or stopping at gas stations to ask for directions. Not that kind of lost.

  But "lost" as in "dead to the world" & "lost" as in "away from my regular duties and responsibilities and schedules".

  Yes -- I went to Barnes and Noble for the day!

  And, lest you remember the other post I did about a day at Barnes and Noble and think that I am constantly galavanting off to visit my favorite bookstore, let me remind you that it has been almost 2 years since I have been there for a day.  I don't think that could be considered too often. At least not to my way of thinking.

  As Moms and wives, we are always "on".  On duty.  On call.  We're here for our families. It feels like 24/7. I know we get little breaks here and there (some more than others) but sometimes we feel a little like this saying, right?

  

  Because we do that a lot. Put our needs last. We've got lots of practice.

  So I plow through the guilt and decide to take a day to myself.  And what better place for this book lover to spend it than at Barnes and Noble.  They never seem to notice that the same girl has been there for 7 hours straight, which is to my advantage.

  Our nearest Barnes and Noble is 1 1/2 hours away, so it is quite a little trek.  Thankfully, I have friends who like to talk to me on the phone, and my conversations with them made the time just fly by. Plus, I got to connect with some friends. So it was a win-win.

  I did a little shopping at Michael's and Office Max first, so I didn't arrive at B & N until about 11 o'clock. The first thing I did was to go and get myself a peppermint mocha and a big Reese's cookie.  Yum, yum! I had been looking forward to my peppermint mocha for days.

  I sat and read a book that I had brought along that I wanted to finish and once I was done with that, I found a basket and went around and gathered up a basketful of books. Maybe 15 or so.  (If you are ever going to B & N for the day and need some system to follow, you can totally copy mine. It is quite sophisticated! Ha, ha!)

  I walk around and find an area where the book topics are of interest to me. I read very little fiction these days, so I like memoirs, Christian books, books about people and relationships, travel books, etc.  I pick books off of the shelf, thumb through them a little, and make a snap decision on whether I would like them or not.  Probably at least 1/2 of the books I pick up don't make it into my basket.  I go by things like the way the author writes, the font and closeness of the lines, whether the book grabs my interest at all when I open it up to a random page and other such high-tech methods of scoping out which books I might like to read.

  I got my stack of books, found a chair and settled in.  I brought along my pen and paper so I could write down titles and authors of books that looked interesting to me. (for possible later purchase. I know. I'm sorry Barnes and Noble.)

  From the time I got to the store until I look at the clock the first time (because I needed to text Jeremy about something), it had been almost 4 hours. If you would have asked me how long I had been there I probably would have guessed 2 hours or less.  Time flew WAY too fast.

  I just would pick up a book out of the basket, start reading, usually at a random spot, and see if the story and the authors way of writing grabbed me.  Does this seem like a book I would read?  Is it interesting to me? Do I connect with the author? 

  Most of the books I had in my basket got written down on a paper, but a few didn't make the grade and I put them back without even writing them down.  I tend to be a bit of a book snob, I guess. I LOVE to read, but I have so little time these days that I don't want to waste my time on books that are just so-so. (In my opinion.)

  So, just for your information, here is the list of books that I found that I thought looked really great. I will start with the only books I actually purchased that day at Barnes and Noble.

  One was a book of IQ and personality and EQ (emotional quotient) and social type of tests, cuz I am always a sucker for that kind of thing.  Always wanting to learn more about myself and my strengths and weaknesses.

  The other was called "Breaking Night" by Liz Murray because I was a book that I could hardly put down and I found myself thinking about it even after I had laid it aside for a while.  It is about a girl who had a very dysfunctional family and then she became homeless and then ended up going to Harvard later.  Totally intrigueing to me and I loved her style of writing.

  Then...this is the list that I came home and ordered from Amazon.com

  What Women Fear by Angie Smith

  She is the author of the "audreycaroline.blogspot" blog and I just had the privilege of hearing her speak at Women of Faith in October.  She writes a very candid and powerful book about women and fears.

   

  Rescue by Anita Shreve

  A novel that I had picked up that looked really good.

   

  How to be a people magnet by Leil Loundes

  Just because the concepts and ideas were intrigueing to me.  Watch out! The next time you see me you won't be able to stay away.  Ha, ha!! 

   

  4,000 questions for getting to know anyone and everyone

  I always LOVE these sorts of books.  I am a curious person. What can I say?  What I really wish is that I had a friend who would want to sit with me for hours and we would take turns asking each other questions out of the book.  But I know that my friends have their limitations and that I am a little weird about this kind of thing, so I just rope Jeremy into doing this with me sometimes.

   

  The Christian Athiest by Gray Groeschel

  It talks about how we, as American Christians, often say we believe in God but live our lives as if He doesn't exist.  I am interested in this topic and he seems to write it very well.

   

  Dear Bully (70 stories from various authors)

  About bullying in our schools. For some reason this subject really interests me.

   

  And this one I ordered from Abebooks because I found it cheap on there:

  1001 ways to be romantic by Gregory Godek

  This one had lots of great ideas and was written in a much more creative format that a lot of books I have seen and looked at and bought that are along these lines.  I actually got my idea for Jeremy's Christmas present from here.  Don't want to say what it is, but it involves a bunch of letters/cards that I will give him over a period of a couple of weeks.  Plus, I am not a very creative person, so sometimes (Ok, a lot of times) I need help!

   

  And then, the list of books that I looked at, want to buy, but didn't buy yet because they are too expensive, even online. They are on my "Maybe Later" list:

  Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wuntzel

  Authbiography about her struggle with depression from a young age

   

  Grace for the Good Girl by Emily Freeman

  She is the author of the "chatting at the sky" blog.

   

  Take this bread by Sara Miles

  Memoir about a lady who got saved and spent her life feeding the hungry

   

  The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney

  Because I am married to an introvert and have at least 1 introvert kid, so I am interested in learning more about what I am not. (I am a definite extrovert.)

   

  Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge

  Book about Jesus from a new perspective. Looks quite intrigueing.

   

  Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor

  Story of a young women whose husband was tragically killed (she was pregnant with their first child) and her account of how she dealt with all of that. Very poignantly written.

   

  I am not recommending these books: as in, saying I agree with all of their content, etc. because I have not yet read them, but I am telling you that these are books that looked really interesting to me and if you have similar interests to mine, these might be good ones to get out on loan at the library or to buy sometime.

  Maybe you've already read some of them and have an opinion. I am interested in that too.

   

  Anyway, my day was absolutely wonderful. Although after looking through and reading parts of lots and lots of book and being inundated with the smells and sights of a busy Barnes and Noble store all day long, I did develop a headache.  Thankfully, I had some ibuprofin with me and I took that but the headache didn't leave until a while after I was on my way home.

  I wish I could do this trip once a month. I really do. But maybe it would just become commonplace and I wouldn't appreciate it quite so much.

  Either way...being in a bookstore for hours is practically my heaven on earth. And I enjoyed it greatly!

  • 4:12 pm
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