High winds are prompting my to write this earlier than usual on Tuesday. Fires are already breaking out and the winds are supposed to get worse. I haven’t seen winds this strong in a long time.
But today I’m here to talk about the Reading Monster I’ve created: Wizard! So I had two books sitting around that I hadn’t had time to read, “That Will Never Work” by Marc Randolph (one of the founders of Netflix), and “Play Nice But Win” by Michael Dell (founder of Dell computers). Wizard stole my Dell book and started reading that.
Then he read the Netflix book.
Then last night he wanted to go to Barnes and Noble to look at books. I showed him how to find more biographies on business, he found one and suddenly he was hooked. By the end of the evening browsing, he had three books but finally chose three on various subjects. I was like a proud mom, LOL!! Wizard will read occassionally, but I’ve never seen him WANT to go to a bookstore and look at books because he was afraid he’d run out of books at home to read. That’s new and awesome!
I’ve read the Netflix book and am 2/3s of the way through the Dell book (it was a slow start for me but now it’s interesting). I have other books on my Kindle so I’m not stressed I’ll run out of things to read.
Happy Wednesday!
January 8th, 2025 at 7:30 am · Link
YAY! I’m so happy about Wizard catching the reading bug.
And all positive thoughts headed your way that the fires don’t reach you. I was just seeing where actor James Woods had to evacuate his home and now his smoke alarms are going off all over the house and alerting him on his phone. It’s pretty sad. Stay safe over there. :HUGS:
January 8th, 2025 at 8:59 am · Link
LG used to read like crazy but he stopped in the last few years. No clue why. 🤷🏼♀️ Okay…a small clue–social media (he is ALWAYS on FB
and streaming services on the TV 🤦🏼♀️ ) I wish I could read easier because there are lots of books I’d LIKE to read but they aren’t on audio. Ah well. I’m just glad that Stormy is a reading monster! Luckily, both his mom and dad are readers so that helped grow his interest.
I’m currently listening to THE SERPENT AND THE WOLF. It has lots of buzz and there was/is a waiting list at the library. I stopped listening to Andre Norton’s WITCH WORLD (a nostalgia listen) because I kept delaying the library book. It always popped up when I was in the middle of a book. Anyway, I’m not quite through chapter 1 and I’m feeling a bit ambivalent about it. I’ll give it a bit longer but at the moment it seems like just more of the same. If that makes any sense?
Anyway, yay for Wiz finding his reading chops! I hope it continues. Sending heartfelt thoughts to all in CA. I know you are away from it but worry for your Kids. The footage is terrifying and heartbreaking. 😢 💔
January 8th, 2025 at 2:41 pm · Link
B.E., thanks! The fires going on now are far enough away that we’re safe. But we’re staying home today in case on breaks out in the hills behind us.
I’m very happy Wizard has found books he enjoys! His read many of mine and a smattering of others here and there, but him wanting to go to the bookstore was new.
Hope all is good where you are!
January 8th, 2025 at 2:53 pm · Link
Silver, in my opinion, social media is definitely a reading-vampire, totally sucking the reading time AND deteriorating our attention spans. And YouTube videos are crack to me!
Yes! More of the same makes perfect sense to me. It may be that we’ve read so many books over the years, we get bored with the same thing over and over. Maybe
I hope the story picks up for you! But if it doesn’t then go back to THE SERPENT AND THE WOLF!
I’m starting a new dark romance on audio. I rarely ever listen to romance on audio as a lot of the scenes make me cringe on audio — it’s just me for some reason. But dark humor usually amuses me. Not sure I’m feeling it on this one — we’ll see.
It’s hard to express how bad the devastation is in L.A. Two civilians have died so far and I’m praying everyone else is safe. I truly am shocked at how bad the winds were. They’re still here, but not as bad in my area at least for now. In good news, my kids are all well and should come through this okay — thank you for thinking of them!
Hope you’re having a good day.
January 8th, 2025 at 3:23 pm · Link
That’s wonderful of Wizard! Now get him a library card and he can have SO much fun.
I’ve been thinking of you and your family with these horrid fires. Prayers just keep going up. From the coverage I figured you were safe right now but I worried about your kids. It’s so relieving to know that they are all okay too.
I was watching the live coverage over night and damn it is frightening. I saw the video of the man and his dog with the house surrounded by fire. He was trying to reassure the dog. Has the news out there had an update on them? I hope they made it out.
Take care.
January 8th, 2025 at 5:46 pm · Link
Viki, I should get him a library card
Right now I’m just happy he’s enjoying reading when he’s not busy doing other tasks for hobbies.
It’s just been so horrid with the winds and fires. I don’t know the story of the man escaping with his dog, but I hope they are safe. We’ve seen and heard a ton of terrible stories. There were winds as high as a 100 miles an hour with dry conditions (Santa Ana Winds). There were people running for their lives in firestorms — literally abandoning their cars to try to escape on foot. Then those same cars, hindered firefighters trying to get to new fires that popped up and they had to bulldoze the cars to make a path. It was all just heartbreaking.
But on a happier note — the winds are dying down and I’ll shake off my lingering sadness. People are generally resilient and most will find a way to rebuild and be happy.
So I’ve actually had a good day overall. Hope your day is going well!