Confession Time

What I'm reading for the first time at 36 years old

I never read The Catcher in the Rye.  Honestly, there are a LOT of books that I was supposed to read in school that I never read.  I feel like I'm missing out.  There are times people refer to these books and I just nod along and pretend I know what they are talking about.  I haven't a clue.  I was a great speed reader in highschool.  I actually took a class in speed reading.  I got an A.  (I also was great at shorthand.) Sadly though, the only book I ever read cover to cover by that point was That Was Then, This Is Now.  I think I read that book in seventh grade or so and still actually remember the title.  I'm not sure why, but parts of that book still stick out in my memory.

I made a resolution this year to read one book a month that I should have read in school.  I have yet to read one.  Last night, at Walmart, while looking down at The Catcher in the Rye, I vowed again to get at least one book on the list read this year.  I should mention here that I read quite a bit now.  I finally became interested in reading in college when I took a class on true crime.  I read my first true crime book and I was hooked.  I realized then that I like to read, I just don't care to read fiction.  I have a hard time spending my time reading a book about something that never happened. 

Anyhow, I started The Catcher in the Rye last night.  So far, it's pretty decent.  The author is very descriptive and appears to jump around a lot-which explains why I probably gave up after the first chapter in school.  I'm through the first six chapters though and I plan to finish the book this week. 

I guess that's one of the benefits of currently living alone.  I feel like I'm getting back some of the me time that I gave up when I moved in with E.  Not that E asked me to, but for some reason, I did.  In the process of living together, I can see that I started to let go of some things I loved.  It's funny how women do that.  We focus so much on making our men happy that we really do seem to lose parts of ourselves.  I'm grateful for this reflection time.  I'm happy for this time apart and what I'm learning about God, my relationship with E, and myself.  So, this week, i'm starting to read The Catcher in the Rye and I'm excited about what the future holds.