As you know, we are switching posts this week and I am going to review the book I read this weekend, Promise Me by Harlan Coben. I thought about reviewing something more substantial that I read a while back to impress Victoria, but decided to be real about it. So as I was putting together my thoughts, my review turned into an eco-style article! I just can’t help it, it must be in my DNA. So back to the book, if you are looking for a light, summer, quick book, Harlan is your man. The best part is that you can finish it in a day or two AND you will want to. It is a thriller, who dun it, my favorite genre. “Harlan Coben is the modern master of the hook-and-twist–luring you in on the first page, only to shock you on the last.”  This is his eighth book so there are lots to choose from.

So now I’m going to explain how I found this book. My daughter’s boyfriend told me about this little book store next to the Westlake Library.  It is called the Friends’ Book Nook. They were having a $3.00 sale. You fill up a paper bag with as many books as you want for $3.00! Crazy! I not only found old design books, but I picked up a few books to decorate my living room shelf and even some foreign language books to wrap gifts with! When they are not having a sale, their prices are very affordable as well. $1.00 for hardcovers, 50 cents for paperback and magazines are free. It’s worth a look before you go to Barnes and Noble. I read today in the news that a book is one of the 25 things you should not buy new.

1. Promise Me by Harlan Coben
2. Friends’ Book Nook located next door to the Westlake Library
3. Westlake Library
4. Books used as decor in Restoration Hardware
5. My book shelf

I typically post about once a week on various books (old and new) that I’m reading (hence, this is usually called What I’m Reading Now)…However, I’m interrupting this important posting schedule to bring you something a little different. Because, okay, it has dawned on me that perhaps you don’t care what I’m reading…NAH, I’m just kidding. That’s NOT really dawned on me… Anyhow, here’s the topic for today: Not WHAT I’m reading but, rather, HOW I’m reading. The importance of this information was brought to my attention when at least a couple of friends made remarks along the lines of “How do you have time to read?” “When do you read?” “I can never manage to read” etc etc.  And then an author friend recently made a Facebook plea to have people post pictures of themselves or others in public reading books. Her message was that we need to flaunt our books so that people are aware that humans still read. I thought that was very interesting. Yes, I know that people say the novel is dead, that we don’t read anymore, etc., etc. But I guess I’m in denial. Or maybe my nose is buried too far in a book to notice that all of you out there aren’t reading??? Could it be true?? In the hopes that it isn’t but perhaps you just need a little help finding more reading time, I’ll share with you my list of HOW I read (some of it isn’t, you’ll see, paper books…but I believe anything counts):

1. I read in the car if I’m a few minutes early picking up my son from school.

2. I watch very little television…there isn’t that much that interests me. And, yes, that means I entirely missed the cultural revolutions that were Sex In The City and Lost (plus a bunch of other HBO shows that I heard were really great). Note: I often sit next to my son and husband while they watch their show (sometimes I watch with them, but usually I’ll have a book so I can read instead.)

3. I read at the park when my son is playing with his friends. Sometimes I have to stop, of course, to referee, etc.

4. I read in the bathtub.

5. On airplanes, of course.

6. I DON’T usually read at our local pool because I want to keep an eye on my kid. Instead, I listen (with one earphone in) to downloads of short stories from The New Yorker fiction podcast (I’ll post about these podcasts at some point).

7. I listen to short stories (see above) while walking my dog.

8. Sleepless nights… though I like the Elizabeth Hardwick book by this name, I’m talking about my own. After I’ve mentally contemplated all that one should at 3am –the wording of this post, how to redecorate the entire house, why BP can’t fix the oil disaster, the best way to freeze the leftovers in the refrigerator etc– and if I really, truly can’t get back to sleep I’ll go to the living room and read until I’m tired again. This usually works but just this morning it backfired…I overslept and, because of that, my son was late to school. Be careful with this one.

9. I read in the doctor’s office waiting room, in the dentist chair waiting, on the table waiting for the doc, etc., etc. I always have some book nearby whether I’m clothed or unclothed.

10. My son has participated in rock climbing classes (an hour and half long) and various other classes. I usually stay for the class, but I’ll read (and occasionally look up).

11. I always bring a book when I’m meeting a friend at a restaurant. If I’m not late, the other person will be so I’ll get a few pages in. Actually, I bring a book along for almost all appointments. I find people are so often late.

12. Friends, enemies, my mother, salespeople, etc. will attest that I don’t answer my phone very often. I’d rather read than talk on the phone! If you call often enough or come over to my house, though, I promise I WILL talk to you!

You might notice that I didn’t say I read before bed. I sometimes do but often by the time I get my son to sleep, etc., I’m zonked. Also, I didn’t list reading on the treadmill at the gym. When I go there, I sometimes do read but it’s usually junk magazines so I’m not counting that. It brings me to a good point, though…I actually don’t believe that people don’t read. I think it’s that people often don’t read good stuff.. And maybe when they say they never have time to read, that’s what they’re talking about. Just for fun, though, the photos are  of real, live exurbanites READING! That’s me, above, this weekend at Lake Casitas water park, preggo but NOT reading What To Expect (It’s actually One Art: The Letters of Elizabeth Bishop…don’t worry, you’ll hear about it soon enough). My hubby was watching our son in the water. The other picture is of a woman waiting at the Toyota dealership (like me, probably also waiting for the recalled floor mats of her Prius to get fixed).  The picture below is my favorite: Exurb contributor Debbie Miller reading while her boys decide how to spend their birthday money! That’s just the kind of multi-tasking mom I like!

Today, I should actually be asking you if you voted. But I’m not. I  really want to know if you read…and, if so, WHERE??

Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream

By Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Jeff Speck

I know this book sounds really appealing, right? Bear with me. This is an excellent book that sums up much of how, when and why suburbs were created. It talks a lot about weird things (to non-city planner types): road width, intersections, residential and commercial sites in the suburbs, laws and tax codes. Suburban Nation taught me the  term “collector road,” for which I am grateful. Everybody should know about collector roads! I swear, the book is absolutely fascinating – that is, until you get about two-thirds through. That’s when the complaining about suburbs and everything that’s wrong with them gets old. By the end, though, the authors redeem themselves by giving very good advice to those of us who wish to make the burbs more livable and sustainable. If only city council people, planners, and other community leaders in the burbs had the wherewithal to read this! That would be something.

Now for my personal take on a major failing of these authors (and others in their field). They talk about the built environment and how much that has to do with how people live. Yes, it sure does. But where do they leave room for the human spirit? So the average suburban environment is, well, a bit appalling  – horrible architecture, collector roads, tract houses, even people with boring furniture. However, I don’t care how drab the built world is, people are always creative. There is always an artist, writer, an entrepreneur, a cool mom, an enlightened dad, the bizarre and funny kid. In short, there is life in the burbs. Much as urban planners like to deny it, we equal more than the sum of our built parts. That’s my lecture for the day. Now go read Suburban Nation. The authors are smart. Besides, this is your world and you should know about it.

Note: since there are seriously no independent bookstores in our part of exurbia, we’re giving you an Amazon link.

I picked a friend up from the airport several months ago. She’d recently seen author Laura Day interviewed on a morning show. She couldn’t remember the name of her book exactly, but she kept looking in the airport bookstores and was disappointed she couldn’t find it. This intrigued me enough to later track down the book at the library. I actually had to be put on a waiting list for this one. I suspect it’s the type of book with a title that really makes you want to believe, yet maybe not believe enough to want to part with $24. Anyhow, I did get it and read it. The whole premise is that any one of us can master our intuitive and psychic powers enough to get exactly what we want. Day has been around a while touting similar ideas. In fact, her Practical Intuition was a NYT best seller. (An aside: She has a lot of celeb friends, too. Cover endorsements from Demi Moore and Brad Pitt kind of made sense but I was a little surprised –and further intrigued — that Chris Rock also blurbed her book.)

Many of you may think all of this stuff is a bunch of nonsense. I don’t. As a health writer (a big part of what I do when not posting here), I put a lot of stock in researchers and JAMA studies and such. However, I also leave room for that which we can’t quantify,  can’t necessarily prove with with double-blind studies. There’s something to the whole idea that we know — or can know– more than we think we know. However intriguing I found Day’s ideas, however, I found the exercises she provided for readers a bit vague and hard to follow. Or, rather, hard to get results. Then again, as Day notes in the book it takes time to cultivate these skills. Perhaps I just need to practice my psychic abilities a lot more. When my husband found me reading this on, yes, our couch, he teased me a bit. I could tell he was interested, though. Guess what he got for Valentine’s Day? I’ll let you know if either of us begin ruling the world anytime soon.