More thoughts about LC books

I got a late start on reading for the LC Book Club. I meant to start this a while ago so I wouldn't have quite so much reading to do over the summer. I did start Kate Chopin's The Awakening at some point in the spring, but then I got distracted from finishing it. I had had a spare weekend where I wasn't feeling well and I stayed in bed and read close to half of it that weekend. Then, as life often has a habit of doing, things kind of snow-piled and I didn't get back to it. In the meantime, I have reflected about the book on multiple occasions without actually going back to finish it. I have read it a couple of times before, though, so I know where it is heading.

Anyway, part of the reflections have to do with how society has certain expectations for gender roles. I think this has improved significantly, but is nowhere near perfect. I still bristle at assumptions that my role in the home is to cook, clean and also care for the children while the husband's role is that of the breadwinner and the outside caretaker. For what it's worth, these assumptions do not come from my husband, who also does not refer to watching his own children as "babysitting." If the child is your own, it should be called "parenting"!!!!, but I digress...

I do plan to get back to Chopin, but it probably won't happen until after I have read some of the other books. I ordered a bunch from half.com recently. I bought Catch Me if You Can; Black, White and Jewish; No Telephone to Heaven; She's Not There; Erasure and something else that escapes me for the moment all for around $30, shipping included. Three of the books arrived earlier than they had to. I love half.com. In my many purchases from that site, I have only had one bad experience, and even that would not have been a bad experience had I not needed the book by a certain time. The seller couldn't find the book after I'd put in the purchase bid. The purchase did not go through, but I was left with little time to buy the book from someone else to get it in time. This was back when I was tracking down copies of "Death of a Salesman" for my McKendree students. I will never be the book purchaser for students ever again. Anyway, the whole point was that I have both purchased and sold books via half.com pretty much without issue.

I started and finished Catch Me in just two or three days. The others will proceed more slowly, I'm afraid. Kevin and I are also in the midst of rereading the Harry Potter books. We read Book 3 earlier this summer and then skipped 4 because we're really familiar with that one. Now, we're on Book 5, which is huge! I know there's no reason to share my Harry Potter theories, but I may do so in a post later this summer. I'll put a spoiler alert for anyone who may want to skip over it.