DOG EARS AND BOOKMARKS

I am somewhat embarrassed to tell you that my profound love, deep seated passion, and almost veracious appetite for devouring books has all but come to a halt in the past 10 months.  Oh I have had other periods of waxing and waning in my reading of books over the years.  Sometimes it has depended on the amount of free time I have had, whether illness ruled, if projects or work dominated or just simply if the hunger was there for it.  This though, has been the longest stretch of not reading a book in its entirety in my life.  I have started several over these months, read some chapters, soaked in some poetry from time to time, read parts of several writing books but not like my normal consumption.  Until, this past week.  I finally finished a book.  A great one too I might add.  It was a shine-the-light-in-the-cracks-of-my-thinking sort of book to kick off my reading comeback.  It was a book given me by a dear friend for my birthday.  Thank you:)  I have wondered if I have dumbed myself down a few IQ points over these months by not picking up a book.  But then, I remember I have been on a love fest for the past 10 months  That in and of itself has probably extended my life by some years and refreshed my intelligence more than books could have ever done.  None-the-less, I need to re-tool my mind, be reminded of things bigger than myself, view thoughts and concepts that take me out of my way of thinking, feel deeply through amazing combinations of words and the pictures they paint, laugh, and see human nature displayed both good and bad.  If you are a lover of books, know of a great one to recommend for my reading pleasure, please leave me a comment with its name.  Please note; I do not like sci-fi.  I go easy on fiction.  I love autobiographies, biographies, non-fiction, and some history.  I hate trite, contrived, predictable fiction, including authors who pump books out like smoke from a chimney.  If you know of an obscure author, a book that left you moved or wanting more, I want to know it too.  I found my bookmark again:)