Friday, July 30, 2010

Friday Smile: Husband - reading? No way!

Breaking News...Breaking News....We interrupt your regularly scheduled show to bring you this important update.   HUSBAND IS READING!

I even caught it on film on our recent trip.


That's right..you read that correctly..my husband is reading!   I can't tell you just how excited this makes me!  See, Husband used to read, in high school and college.  In fact, he was an English major in college.  Then he graduated college and never picked up another book.   He would tease me about how much I read and even try to convince me to read some of the books he had to analyze in college and liked (and I did read a couple and didn't like them), however he would not bother reading.

Then one night, several weeks ago, we were doing our normal routine.  He was watching something on tv I wasn't interested in so I was reading.  He was switching back and forth between some stupid show and a baseball game.  Now, I don't follow sports and never have.  I really don't care about professional sports.  I played soccer for 12 years and loved it and was very competitive..but professional sports never had my interest.  This is something my husband can't understand.  How is it I don't know the rules behind basketball and baseball and football.  How is it I don't know the names of all our city's professional players.  How is it I just don't care?   So the game is on and he asks me who we are playing..luckily they had just said it so I knew.  Then he asked me to name a couple of players on our team, I could name one.  He asked me who the coach was..after some thought I could provide the name.  He started going on and on about how he doesn't understand how I don't know this stuff, etc.  I made the comment that I know a lot more about the publishing industry than he does and that I don't understand how it is he doesn't know more about books and authors, etc.   I said we each have our passions.   So then I made him a dare.  (We do like to dare each other in our house..this is how I'm stuck doing the p90x program..another post to come on that one.)  I told him that if he read a book, cover to cover, I would watch a sports game with him -without reading (something that has never been done before).  He actually took me up on the offer.

I had several books I already owned that I suggested, but he didn't want to read any of them.  Oh no, he wanted to read The Passage by  Justin Cronin.  So we went to Borders and he bought it.  And he read it.  And he liked it!  And then we went back to Borders to buy him another book, and another, and another.  That's right..he hasn't just read 1 book, he has finished 3 books and is currently reading a 4th!   I can't tell you just how excited I am about this!  I sure do hope this trend continues.

Since I'm guessing some of you might ask, here's what he has read and what he has thought about them (that I can remember):

The Passage by Justin Cronin
He really liked this one and has decided that he likes end of the world type books (although I can't convince him to read The Stand by Stephen King).  In fact, he liked it so much he is insisting I read it.  He's getting rather annoyed that I haven't read it yet.  I tried to get him to review it on my blog, but when I sad this we were in the car and he started getting all analytical about it on me and I asked him to wait until we were home so I could type it, but then he lost interest.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
He thought the book was ok.  He said that it was for old people and a bit Sherlock Holmesish and that I should read it because I would enjoy it.  I haven't asked him how it is I fit into the old people category, I figure that's best left unanswered.  He didn't really get what all the fuss is about.  However, let me add that I don't know if he's ever really read a mystery and I don't think mysteries are his cup of tea.  But..according to him..if you are old and like Sherlock Holmes, you will like this series.  haha!

World War Z by Max Brooks
I honestly can't remember what he had to say about this one.  I believe he liked it, but beyond that I don't know.

Currently he is reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I'm actually excited about this because I have been wanting to read it myself..and instead of using my allowance to buy it, he used his.  sucker.  Lucky for him I already have the 2nd in the series for him to read, if he likes this one that is.

I also find it interesting that he waits until he has finished a book before buying another.  I think this is rather smart because he won't end up with a bunch of books he owns and has never read. At the same time..how could he possibly not have a book or two or three to choose from and pick up immediately after he finishes his current read?  Time will tell if he continues with this rate of buying or not.

Here's a question for you, faithful readers, what books can you suggest for dear husband?  Do you have any "end of the world" type books to suggest?  If so, I would love to hear them.

8 comments:

bermudaonion said...

What a great story - it sounds like he forgot why he loves to read. I can't think of an end of the world story, but my husband just read City of Thieves and loved it. He plans to start the Dexter series next.

Unknown said...

I think he forgot too..plus he's addicted to tv and who has time to read when you can watch endless reruns of shows you've seen a dozen times already? lol

I'll have to look up City of Thieves and see if it's one he might like. Thanks for the suggestion.

We both love watching Dexter! I can't believe I didn't think about suggesting he read the series! Lucky for him, I do have the first in the series, I'll have to find it and suggest he read that one next.

Lover of Books said...

I loved Angels and Demons. Maybe not for him, but it was good. I would suggest Myron Bolitar Series by Harlan Coben and honestly anything by that author!! :)
Krista

Unknown said...

Krista - thanks for the suggestions! He attempted to read Angels and Demons once when we were on vacation, didn't make it half-way through the book and didn't pick it up once we were at home. lol

WonderBunny said...

He might like Feed by Mira Grant. I just read that and loved it.

My other half (who read a lot) likes the author F. Paul Wilson and his Repairman Jack series (first book is The Tomb). He also liked The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, The Descent by Jeff Long, The Traveller by John Twelve Hawks. Shoot me an e-mail if you'd like some more and I'll have him put together a list for you.

Unknown said...

Thanks Wonderbunny! I'll give him this list and we'll see if he wants more. I tried to get him to read The Dresden files series since I have several,but he wasn't interested in it. It's been rather interesting trying to figure out just what he wants to read and what he likes to read.

Anna said...

Awesome! You both sound just like me and my hubby. He's into sports, and I'm not, and he's not into books. I did convince him to join my book club, and when the rest of the members left for various reasons, Serena and I have managed to convince our husbands to read a book a month or every other month with us. So far, so good!

My husband likes those end of the world books and loved The Hunger Games. But he hasn't read too many so I don't have any suggestions.

Unknown said...

Anna - I'm glad I'm not alone! My husband wasn't too thrilled with Hunger games or the 2nd in the trilogy. He's reading a Terry Brooks book now....but he doesn't seem too thrilled with that either.