Book Talk

I have finished - to the extent I plan to finish - this reading challenge list.  The only category I'm not hitting is "a book you previously abandoned" because even when it's painful, I finish books I start. And if you've read previous posts, you know I've combined categories here and there. 

To fulfill "a book you own but have never read" and "a book that intimidates you" (combined because if I own a book I haven't read, it's because it intimidates me), Steve said I should read All the President's Men.  (It was also "published before [I was] born", along with a couple of others I've read for this challenge).  All the President's Men follows Woodward and Bernstein as they investigate and uncover Watergate.  Full disclosure: I saw the movie before I read the book.  Many years ago, I had to watch it for my government class in high school; I had no appreciation for the story at the time, and I swear the movie was eight hours long.  I remember being literally bored to tears, which is part of why reading this book intimidated me.  I will say that my more mature view now allowed me to enjoy the book, because obviously it's a juice story, but I still wouldn't call it a book I'd willingly pick up in my downtime.  I did it for the list.  We also own the movie, so maybe I'm ready to try it again.

 All the Lasting Things is a very new release that I got for free on my Kindle.  It's about a family who, in dealing with the father's Alzheimer's, the adult son's attempted suicide, and the adult daughter's long-kept secret being revealed, struggles to find a way to maintain their bond as they find themselves facing quick decline.  A couple of interesting characters unexpectedly enter the picture, making life even more complex (yet possibly more meaningful) for the family.  Enjoyable enough, this would be a quick and easy summer read. 

"Don't read just the easy stuff.  You may be entertained by it, but you will never grow from it."

Jim Rohn