Guilted into reading...kind of

So if anyone knows my wife or reads her blog at all, you know she has this newfound obsession with reading. It started out simple; reading at night, occasionally on the weekends, no big deal. Then my newest arch nemesis was released...Twilight (ugggghhh). First off, I'd like to thank Kim and anyone else who took part in Katie's cult-like following of Edward, Bella and the rest of the gang.

Anyways, over the past few weeks, she has been hounding me (yes, Katie, I said hounding) about why I don't read. I told her because that takes thought and concentration. I teach all day, I don't want to come home and think more. I just want to be mindlessly entertained. Turns out my buddy Tom (PE teacher and fellow coach at school) is also an avid reader. Every now and then he will toss a new book my way. I let two or three pile up on my desk before I realized something. Lucy is in a stage now where she watches and copies us now more than ever. It dawned on me that I don't want her to grow up with the notion that staring at a TV screen all evening long is OK.

So I picked up the latest book that Tom gave me (Bump and Run by Mike Lupica). What a great read so far; it tells the story of a Vegas casino host who inherits an NFL team from his millionaire father (whom he hasn't spoken to in a half decade). I'm halfway through it with plans to finish it by the weekend. I think I'll give Tom the last book I read, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (it's a Pulitzer winner, so at least I can say I've read one of those). To be honest, I think it took me almost two years to finish it. Granted I read it for only a week or so at time, but at least I read it all.

So here I am, a teacher of five years, married to a librarian, and raising a toddler who loves to read. Guess I should jump on the book-reading bandwagon. Hell, I might even like it.