Over-Achiever

We had book club here the other night, discussing Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Overall it seemed that most of us enjoyed the point of view of an elderly man, both for his recollections of circus life in the 1930's and the insight into the lives of the elderly. What we did NOT appreciate was the, um, detailed sexual scenes.

Anyway, we joked at one point that allowing a month between books was pretty much a moot point for me, since no matter how long the book is I pretty much read it in the last four days before the discussion date. We could meet every week, and not much would change about my reading habits! Of course, that is a slight exaggeration - David Copperfield and Middlemarch of course took longer. I mean, they are 800 pages long, and I DO have 3 kids to take care of. All in all, my husband is remarkably understanding about my cramming to finish a book at the last minute. My record is finishing 2 hours before the meeting. Eeks.

Today, the kids and I had lunch at the home of one of Leah's classmates. While we ate, the girls were telling the moms about their day, and C said that if they read 12 books in one night they would get a pizza! W, C's mom, and I tried to pick our jaws up of the table, and after a few more details, I recognized the Book It! program from Pizza Hut. I assured W that they had at least a week to read the books, not one night, for pity's sake!

At home, Leah got right to work. She read 2 books and wrote their titles on her log sheet herself. Then she got a pile from the shelf and went at it. As she burned through a couple more books, I reminded her, "Leah, you know you have a MONTH to read these books, right? You don't have to read them all in one night."

And she said, "I know, but I'm GOING to!"

Well, she didn't quite meet her goal, but she's half done. And now I know how to get her to pick up her dirty laundry: pizza.