Lost In 2 Great Books...

I'm almost finished reading Eckhart Tolle's A NEW EARTH: AWAKENING TO YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE, which is probably the first Oprah Book Club recommendation that I've ever read, lol. But my friend Traci told me about the free 10-week online class, which is available for download on iTunes the next day.

So I watched the first 2 classes (Chapters 1 & 2) on my iPod, and bought the book. It's good reading! :)

Also, since I've seen the cover of Stephen King's current novel, DUMA KEY, I've been obsessing over it. So this morning, after I bought a money order for this month's rent, I treated myself to the unabridged audiobook version ($35 at Audible.com, $32 at iTunes!) and fell asleep listening to it. Then I listened to it on the drive to work, and have been listening to for the past 2 and 1/2 hours at work. (I have all my heavy-duty Friday stuff done, so the rest of my shift is babysitting the technology and keeping the beast fed. Plus, I keep the iPod audio quiet enough that I can easily hear all three of my stations, in case something went wrong.)

I paused in my listening because my iPod was almost out of juice, lol. I'm recharging it (AND watching/listening to my stations) as I write this.

I think DUMA KEY may turn out to be one of my favorite King novels! :D

I'm LOVING the book so far!

I should explain: One of the big reasons I started obsessing over the book after I saw the cover art is because, for whatever reason beyond the ridiculously obvious, the cover art and the blurb reminded me of the weekend I spent in Florida at my friend Chuck's wedding. (Chuck just happens to be as devoted to King's writing as I am to Michael Crichton's. So there's that, as well.)

I remember obsessing over the book INSOMNIA when I was living a fairly solitary life in Georgetown. The book is about an older guy and his life after his beloved wife passes away. I've read the book a few times now. I really enjoy just being in that world. (Chaos and supernatural murder not withstanding.)

I dug on CELL a couple of years ago, and it's definitely up there as one of my favorites, if for no other reason that it's King and it's (more or less) zombies. Oh, AND it's post-apocalyptic. (Got a weakness for fictitious apocalypses...)

But I've only returned to hang out in that world once, so far.

But Duma Key...

I'm kind of digging being there! :)

And the relationship between the guy (in his 50s) and his adult daughter... There's definitely something very "me" about this story so far! :D I'm really relating to it!

The audiobook is divided into 9 2.5-hour chunks (21.5 hours total running time), and I'm about 4 hours into it. So I'm really in "Act I", if you thought of King's work in screenwriting terms. I've seen glimpses of the supernatural evil lurking somewhere in the darkness, but it hasn't really sprung just yet.

But that's fine by me! :)

I'm just living on a Key right now!!!

Awww MANNN...!

I just noticed that we're airing one of those trashy "Laugh At Videos Where People Get Hurt And/Or Die" shows for the next hour! :( NOW is the time I REALLY need Mr. King to divert my attention, only the iPod's recharging!

There's no work I can be doing to distract myself for the next hour, so I could really use a distraction.

I LOATHE watching people get injured. It sickens me. And it sickens me even more to know that there are enough people out there who aren't bothered watching their fellow humans suffer.

More than that, wasn't FACES OF DEATH supposedly banned in several countries 20 years ago? How come we can show stuff worse than that on TV now? What the hell?

Blah.

Okay... Smoke break, then I'll see how much the iPod has charged. I only have 2 more hours left of my shift, so maybe I don't need it to recharge all the way.

Hope you've got some fun shiny objects with which to distract yourself, too! :)

And happy Easter!!! :D