I got a number of new books for Christmas, and bought a few for myself too, with donations that came in through this blog. Squee! I love books. I love reading. This is my current collection by my bed. I’m usually reading between 5 and 15 books at the same time. Rose and I are currently reading Lirael by Garth Nix, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to each other. It’s soooo wonderful reading aloud or having read aloud to you a favourite book. 🙂 Since we met, we’ve read the other earlier Harry Potter books, Sabriel, and a Tanith Lee one called Companions on the Road, which Rose kept falling asleep to because it’s very lyrical and rhythmic in style. Reading to each other is our secret weapon against insomnia and nightmares. 🙂

I used to go to my local library with a shopping trolley and just browse the shelves, pulling a few books from each to read until I’d reached the 50 book loan limit. These libraries that make you browse electronically and only take out 10 or less books at a time! Wow, not my style. 😦

So, at the moment I am reading Focusing by Eugene Gendlin, about a self awareness/self care technique for learning how to listen and understand where you’re stuck and how to move forwards. So far I love it.

Emerald magic – a collection of short stories set in Ireland, fantasy. One is by Tanith Lee, a favourite author, another by Ray Bradbury, THE favourite author.

Double Exposure by Brian Caswell, excellent author

Up the Duff by Kaz Cooke, about pregnancy, great black sense of humour, a welcome change from all the ‘pastel’ books out there. I also got given Kid Wrangling by the same author which I’m looking forward to.

Somebodies and Nobodies about rank and abuse of power, which I’m loving. It’s what I’ve been screaming about in mental health for years and SOMEBODY gets it! More, they have practical wisdom about maintaining what is useful about rank while getting rid of rankism. I am so enjoying this book.

Parenting for a peaceful world by Robin Grille, about child raising over the centuries. This one is very intense, but extremely important. It’s been incredibly difficult to read about child raising approaches in cultures that routinely abuse, kill, or sacrifice their children, and to see the development of ideas over time – children as property to children as people. I’m looking forward to reading other books that take such a broad sociological approach to this topic because a lot of the parenting books are alarmingly narrow in perspective and we often assume that normal ideas for us today (parents bond with a protect their children, for example) were always normal ideas. It’s also of interest to me considering that for many of my friends and people I work with, their families were definitely not the current norm, and actually operated on principles of abuse or property that I can read about from other cultures or earlier times. It’s also interesting to me how much of things like infant mortality we put at the feet of improved sanitation (very important) and don’t talk about the changes in child raising practices which were probably as or even more important.

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, another one full of great ideas about leadership and vulnerability that I’m reading in small portions to allow me to digest it

Lost and Found, fiction, Rose bought it for me when I was sick, unusual but enjoyable style.

And re reading the Earthsea set again – one of my canon I re read yearly. Absolutely beautiful series.

Plus some I haven’t started yet, Bapo, Embracing Our Selves, and Shadow Dance. How wonderful. 🙂

Rose tells me she can always tell how many nights it’s been since she slept over last as her side of my bed progressively fills up with books and journals. Reading and writing are key parts of my life, they get me out of my head, share creativity and wisdom with me, help me learn new ideas, and upskill. It’s a joy for me that very little can ruin, even grief, pain, illness. I delight in it.

What are you reading?