As I’ve mentioned, I made my colonoscopy prep day into a “mini-reading retreat.” It worked out GREAT. I read everything I had planned to, and more. Let’s start at the beginning…
When I woke up on Sunday, I went for a quick run and then had two pieces of toast. I was allowed to have a “light breakfast,” but from then on I was fasting. I also abdicated all grocery shopping and food prep responsibilities, and it’s amazing how much time that seemed to open up! Here I am, settling down on the couch with my tea and books…
All I needed was a cat…
The two main books I read were Anne of Green Gables and Comfort Me With Apples, and I finished both of them! Unintentionally, I picked two books that were polar opposites- I didn’t realize Comfort Me With Apples is horror. And Anne is the MOST CHARMING AND DELIGHTFUL BOOK IN THE WORLD!
I absolutely loved it. I loved the writing style, I loved the fact that it takes place in Canada, I loved the time period, and I loved all the characters, especially Anne. I MEAN HOW COULD YOU NOT LOVE ANNE??? I loved it so much I’m considering reading on in the series- but I’ve heard some of the other books aren’t as good. What do you guys think?
Comfort Me With Apples is also good, in a completely (and I do mean COMPLETELY) different way. It’s a short, creepy mystery that definitely falls into the horror genre. The ending is weird, but I enjoyed it and I’m still thinking about it.
My other goal was to read part of each of these nonfiction books:
I did it! I read part of all three. The only one I’ll go on to finish is Big Time. I liked Eat Your Ice Cream, but I could probably just skim it and get the nuggets that will help me. A Swim in a Pond… it’s a book about writing. Saunders takes Russian short stories and analyses what makes them great. I read the first one, and I would have enjoyed it more if I were just reading it, and not having it analyzed at the same time. I’ll even go a step further and say that, not to sound like a philistine, I don’t want to read Russian short stories at all. Sorry, Chekhov.
Anyway! That was my day of reading. Oh, and I saved the end of Comfort Me With Apples for when I was drinking the second dose of my prep, because a horror novel pairs perfectly with that experience.
Have you read any of these? Should I go on to read more of the “Anne” books?
