Fully Booked

Well, I'm getting into the Creative Writing course, and am finding it surprisingly easy. So that could mean either that I'm an undiscovered genius or that I'm doing it wrong. I'm really hoping it's the former, but doubt it very much. I've finished my first assignment, but am hesitating over submitting it just in case it makes my tutor suicidal. 

My other course is Children's Literature. I've read all of the set books (so glad I was forced to read 'Treasure Island' as I love it), and am planning an assignment on fairy tales. Again, it seems a great course, and I'm worried that I understand everything, as it's my first level 3. Perhaps it's just that I've been immersed in books since I was little, so it's all quite enjoyable. I'll keep you up to date with my obviously impending fall into the pits of despair as I realise I'm on completely the wrong track.

I've discovered some rather wonderful books through my OU courses. I'm not including 'Little Women' in this, as the sugar-rush almost made me violently ill. I can't remember being that affected by it as a child, maybe it's to do with being older and more cynical. I can relate, though, to one of the girls spending all of the house-keeping on clothes and getting into trouble with her husband. Been there, done that, and had to return the t-shirt. 

As I mentioned, I've always loved books. I have several thousand; walls are lined with bookshelves, which makes painting a room so much quicker. (You think I move the bookshelves first? Oh, come on...) I've kept a lot of favourites from childhood, so Enid Blyton sits primly next to Stephen King, and Calvin and Hobbes crack jokes with Bill Bryson. Neil Gaiman is a favourite, ever since I committed the sin of buying a book because I liked the cover (if you've not read 'Neverwhere', then why not? Seriously, buy it or steal a copy from a friend). 

I always have a book on the go - I get the jitters if there's a long silence and I don't have reading material to hand. When I go handbag shopping (which my husband won't let me do very often), I have to take a large-format paperback with me, to make sure it'll fit in. I have books in the car, in case I have to wait somewhere, and a book in my work locker, in case maths lessons get boring. I'm ashamed to say that, when having to take my accident-prone children to A & E, my first thought is, 'We're going to be there for hours, what book shall I take?'

As for other people, I have one friend that I'll lend my books to, and that's Ms Fab. I stupidly lent a book to another colleague once. She kept it for six months and returned it with a torn cover; I had to be restrained. She breezed,'Oh, sorry! I don't look after books. I normally read them and throw them away.' I'm trusting Karma to sort that one out. I don't understand anyone who doesn't have books in their house. People who love books are usually pretty nice, although Mr Chaos did point out that doesn't include people who are fanatical about 'Mein Kampf'.

My Dad very generously bought me a Kindle. It holds several dozen free books from Amazon, none of which I'm ever going to read. It also contains copies of all my OU study books, and ditto. I just like books: the feel, the smell, the way they pile up in the corner of the room and save you hoovering. I read a quote once, from Jilly Cooper, who said that her grandmother only ever tidied up when she couldn't reach the bookshelves. She sounds like my kind of lady.