My birthday is tomorrow!

I am working on my birthday 7am to 3pm so Brian and I will be celebrating it later. The idea is go to Charleston, take a cooking class and eat dinner at Blossom. I cannot wait!

Anyway, I do have one more unspoken goal for 2011. I did not come up for it myself, I did steal it from another blogger but I think it will make my Mom and Aunt proud and happy if no one else.

Actually, we had Chinese for dinner tonight and my fortune cookie gives a great introduction to this:

"Reading to the mind is what exercise is to the body" Not really a fortune but I like it anyway.

My goal is to read at least one book a month. My blogger friend had planned ahead and new what book would go with what month but I am not that organized. Of course if I read more then one a month that would be great but if I read more only one counts. So if I read two books in January I would still have to read a book in February so the extra book stays extra.

I have already finished my first book and well into another. My Mom had gotten me two books for Christmas and since work has been dead I have been reading in between clients. My goal is also too write about each one. Not necessarily in book report form but I definitely want to reflect on what I read.

My mom got me:

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith book 1 and 2. I have finished book 1. Book 2 will be a separate post as I have not finished it yet.

I at first didn't think I would like this book and was surprised that my mom had chosen it for me. I do not like mysteries and suspense novels. This is not that at all.

The main character is Precious Ramotswe who lives in Botswana Africa. The first book tells you about her childhood, her failed marriage, how she started her Detective Agency and describes some of her cases. Through all this you learn several African cultural differences. The biggest one is that in Africa it is better to be fat then thin.

The author does not follow a time line. He jumps back and forth between time periods which makes this a very interesting read. The reader does not get lost and actually feels like he/she has a better understanding of what is going on and the importance of all of it then if the author wrote it chronologically.

Another thing I love about this book is that it is an easy read but not so easy that you feel stupid reading it. Being an easy read I had a very easy time putting it down when I had a guest. Well, let me say this: while I hated to put it down as I wanted to keep reading I knew that no matter where I stopped reading (end of a paragraph, end of a chapter, etc) I would be able to pick right up no problem.

It took me two days to read it but that was because I was at work and only read it at work. If I were to add up the hours it probably only would have taken me 5 hours to read front and back even though it is only 234 pages. A) I am rusty, this book is the first book I have picked up in months and B) There are a lot of interesting details that you have to pay attention to.

I would definitely recommend this book and am enjoying the second book. Sunday we had 50 check outs and 4 check ins and I was able to read 135 pages of Book 1, Monday we had 8 checking out and 4 checking in and I finished the rest of it before 9:30am. Today we had 0 check outs and 0 check ins so I thought I would possibly finish Book 2 today but I only got 80 pages in. Book 2 is just as intriguing as book 1, I guess the phones were just busier :). I just wish we had HBO so I could watch the series when it comes out in February!