Another one?

Is it me?

I've been busy these last couple weeks that I haven't been blogging. One of the things I've been doing is reading...and putting off reading.

See, I have this addiction. I have to buy books that have won awards. I read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, All the Names by Jose Saramago and Empire Falls by Richard Russo. Practically anytime I see a book that has won a Nobel or Pulitzer, I have to pick it up.

The latest, as I have mentioned, was the Known World by Edward P. Jones. It's a vividly imagined story about the little-known practice of when some freed slaves became slave masters. The topic is compelling, and the characters are intricately carved. But like my last failure, I can't get all the way into it. I'm about 187 pages into the Known World, and I'm really about to give it up.

(****Spoiler alert: In the 187 pages, the slave master died, a funeral was held, and now the wife has to decide whether she continues to live the life of a slave owner.)

Honestly, I don't see the point of all the characters and all their stories. Ugh. I should have my bachelor's degree in English revoked! Maybe if I gave it more time, I would see why all the stories of all the dozens of very detailed characters need to be told. But right now, I can't.

But it's so hard to put down a book. (Let alone two in a row. Sheesh!) My dad, in his typical decisive style, said, "Just stop reading it. It's like walking out on a bad movie." But is it? Bad movies don't sit on your book shelf with their shiny gold award stickers, mocking you, enticing you with the promise of beautiful phrases and heart-wrenching stories that change your life. Oh, the life of an addict!