I love to read. Not a day goes by without me sitting down to read, unless it’s forced upon me by circumstances, such as illness or … something … and I can’t think of the last time it happened, actually.

If you want to torture me, put me in a waiting room for hours with nothing to read. I’ll read the posters, I’ll read the information leaflets, and then I’ll climb the walls to read the small print telling me who made the clock and how to replace the battery. I’ll read the labels on my clothes, the washing instructions on the curtains, and the badges on people’s lapels. Heck, I’ll even read their tattoos if they have any.

I was very lucky because learning to read came easily to me, and I found the whole process of getting words off the page and into my brain quite magical. When I was old enough to join the local library, I remember badgering my mother on a Saturday morning to hurry up and take me down there to change my books so that I could get new stuff to read. We were only allowed four books each week. Four! How mean was that?

In those days, I would read one book at a time, but now I tend to read several books at once, keeping one or two in the bedroom, and others dotted about the house (OK, yeah. In the bathroom too …), so that there’s always something handy.

Here’s what I have on the go at the moment. I’m not going to review them, you can follow the links if you want to know more about them -

Representing non-fiction: Beau Brummel, The Ultimate Dandy (Ian Kelly) and Every Living Thing (James Herriott).

Three works of pure fiction: One for the Money (Janet Evanovich), The Witching Hour (Anne Rice), and Honey Moon (Amy Jenkins).

Okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to review them, but I have to tell you that I’m about to give up on The Witching Hour. It is so slow. So. Slow. I keep waiting for it to warm up and get going, but since I’m halfway through now, I think I might be onto a loser.

I have others waiting - I’m particularly looking forward to Making Money, (the latest Terry Pratchett ‘Discworld’ novel), My Horizontal Life (Chelsea Handler) and The Knife Man (Wendy Moore) which is all about a famous 18th century surgeon.

I’ve read pretty much all genres, though I don’t care too much for horror these days, I seldom read science fiction anymore, and politics bores me. I also read blogs, of course, and what got me started on this post was Gemmak telling us that she considers herself a ‘literary lightweight’. So what exactly is that? Does it matter if we don’t read ‘worthy’ books? What is a worthy book anyway? Personally, I read for fun, for information, and for escapism, and I don’t much care what anyone else thinks of my choices.

Here’s a couple of thoughts to leave you with. According to the Literacy Trust, 40% of adults in Britain never read books. Also, the last time I heard an estimation, the average British household contained only five books. OH and I read all the time, and have upwards of two thousand books in our house. Good grief. How many households does that leave with no books at all?

Oh, and Confident Writing has a kind of meme going about her ‘Summer Reading Pile’. I don’t do Technorati, but if you do, and want to join in, tag your post with those words.

We had the dogs all ready to go out this morning, collars and leads on, poop bags (us being responsible dog owners) and treats in pockets. I was waiting at the front door, while OH set the alarm.

Suddenly he turned to me and said ‘Does this shirt look alright?’

I looked. ‘It’s fine’, I said, unconvincingly.

OH looked unconvinced. ‘Is it?’

‘Yes, it’s fine. Just … uninspiring’.

He looked a little wounded. ‘I rather liked the colour … ‘

I considered. ‘Mmm.’ I said. ‘Well, you are, what, fifty-seven now?’

OH: ‘Um. Ye-e-es .. ?’

‘It’s beige‘, I explained, patiently.

There was a pause. It was a pause pregnant with nameless emotion.

And then he spoke.

‘Go!’ he said. ‘I’ll give you fifty yards’ headstart’.

I went.

You know, I had this all written and ready to go, when I popped over to Yellow Swordfish, and would you believe it? He’s posted his version of the story! Cheek!! Anyway, I’m still gonna post this, on account of there’s a slight difference in perception. I mean, I was only being kind! And he failed to admit to that last bit. And, really, if he didn’t want the truth, why did he ask?

Tee hee.

Last night I was feeling rather strange, and so I told Other Half.

‘I’m feeling a bit strange’, I said.

OH asked me in what way I felt strange.

‘I feel so hot!’ I said.

He reached over to put an arm reassuringly around my shoulders and jumped back.

‘Wow, you ARE hot!’ he said, not at all reassuringly. ‘You’re hot to the touch!!’ And he looked at me, awed.

I was not reassurred.

‘I feel as if I’m about to spontaneously combust!’ I moaned.

OH looked at me.

I looked at him.

‘Shame I won’t be able to burst into flames and leave just my shoes behind,’ I offered.

‘Why is that?’ he enquired.

‘I’m not wearing any!’

‘You’d better go and put some on at once!’ he said sternly.

I thought for a while.

‘But isn’t it supposed to rain herrings first?’

He thought for a while.

‘I don’t believe that was forecast,’ he said, ’so it looks like you’ll have to wait’.

Call me picky, but I’d hoped for a little more sympathy … and today I find this, on his blog!

You just wait, Mr Yellow Swordfish! Come the winter when your hands turn white and the Headsokz come out of hiding, I’ll remember this.

Ha!

That’s the challenge I’ve been given by Momma from Poetic License and by Belle from Diary of a Housewife. My, this one’s a hot one, huh? For this meme, I had to ask my husband to tell me three things he knows about me and then reveal all on this blog, which sounded kinda dangerous to me, but luckily he behaved himself - and thank goodness for that!

So here are the three things he came up with, after a suspiciously long time thinking about it.

1) I once bought a Gary Shearston album

2) I turned down diamond earrings from Tiffany’s - not once, but three times

3) I have a beetle named after me

Yes, folks, it’s true. I did once buy a Gary Shearston album, and what’s more I still have a certain fondness for it. Not only did he have a .. *ahem* … unique voice, but it vividly recalls my lost and mis-spent youth. I don’t have to hear it, just thinking about it takes me right back. OH tells me he’s now an ordained minister in rural Australia, which just goes to show. I love finding out where erstwhile famous people are now!

The earrings? Also true, I’m afraid. I blush to admit it - no, dammit, why should I? The fact is that I have been into three separate Tiffany stores (New York, Las Vegas, and LA) where I examined the same pair of earrings, and where OH offered to buy them for me on the spot. And I refused. I love those earrings, they are very simple and quite small, and they’re composed of three diamonds set very close together. That’s it. Very simple, as I said, and I love them. I even tried them on in LA, and they looked gorgeous… but I have certain ethical objections which haven’t yet been overcome.

I wish I could find a link to the beetle, but I can’t. I can only confirm that yes, I have a beetle named after me, and I believe it to be one of the Seirotranas, which are Australian darkling beetles. My father was a very well respected amateur entomologist, you see, with a special interest in beetles, and during the course of his coleoptery pursuits he came across several new species, one of which he named after me. He left his impressive collection to the British Museum, so somewhere in those vast vaults - or even on public display in a glass case, perhaps - there is a ‘me’ beetle, which is kind of weird.

So there you are. And now, here are the rules:

I must put the finger on a few of my fellow bloggers, then go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged. And for some bizarre reason, the comment must end with the word ‘pthththth’.

And my victims are:

Drowsey Monkey

Don’t Bug Me

Goth Mom

GemmaK

Your instructions, my dears, are to ask your husband, wife, significant other, partner etc. to tell you three things that they know about you. Post these three things on your blog, and follow the rules above.