I wish I enjoyed reading books as much as some of my friends do. I realized today, listening to the gals in our Red Hat Readers group talk, that the book lover gene got left out of my DNA. I read a lot, mostly columns and articles on the internet, which allows me to flit from one subject to another before I get bored, but sitting down with a book to read from beginning to end is a real challenge for me. It always has been.

I used to resent people who could keep their nose buried in a book all day long and never put it down except to pee and eat. Now I envy them. It probably has something to do with my ADD, but my grandson has it and he can stay absorbed in a book for hours. His dad is like me, just doesn't have the bookreading gene.

Seems reading was a little easier when I took Adderall, but since Mike's accident, I haven't taken that. It's an amphetamine, and it did help me complete more tasks than I normally do, but it also set my nerves on edge, and I don't need that since I've been so involved with Mike and his recovery. (It also cut my appetite way down, which enabled me to lose the weight I've lost, but that was a side effect, not the primary purpose.)

Back to the book group.... I joined it because I love hanging out with the people in there, and I needed the discipline of being expected to read at least one book a month. Last month's book Down Town by Ferrol Sams just did not hold my interest. I would much rather have heard the author tell the story than have to read it. His use of old-timey Southern expressions was charming, at first, then it became tedious, and he goes on and on with so many little insignificant details that I just got really impatient for him to get to the point. You've been cornered by story tellers like this, I'm sure. I hope next month's selection is easier to read.

And now it's time to watch Obama make his speech.