Busy Day

I am mad crazy in love with books. Books!!! When I was in grade school, and bed time would roll around (this was about 8p.m.), I would pull out my pink book light, and read books late into the night. My mom would catch me from time to time and yell out “Kelly Quinn, go to bed!”

To which I would defiantly reply, “But Mo-om!!! I’m reading! I bet tons of parents just WISH that they could yell at their kids for reading too much!”

Yes, I was a real rebel back then.

Fast forward to a high school graduation with honors, two B.A.’s from the University of Iowa in four years, an undergraduate teaching position with the department chair, and a job at the largest independently held commercial real estate firm in the world. Hmmm…something tells me that reading late into the night wasn’t so bad for me after all.

I’ve gotten off track and slighly vain- sorry. My point is this: I love to read and to share my love of books with others. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

“Dress your family in courduroy and denim” by David Sedaris (hilarious)
“Me talk pretty one day” by David Sedaris (ridiculously hilarious)
“Naked” by David Sedaris (so freakin’ ridiculously hilarious)
“How to lose friends and alienate people” by Toby Young (I giggled wondering what people thought when they saw me reading this book)
“Kitchen Confidential” by Anthony Bourdain (I will never again order eggs benedict)
“Dirt” the memoir of Motley Crue (Fitz STILL has my copy)
“The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold (a tearjerker)
“Lucky” by Alice Sebold (even more tears with this one)
“Smashed” by Koren Zailckas (frightening)
“He’s just not that into you” by Greg Beherendt (funny and insightful)
“Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein (my childhood fave)
“Romeo & Juliet” by William Shakespeare (a beautiful, tragic love story)
“The Firm” by John Grisham (I love suspense- can easily recommend 40 other Grisham books)
“Murder in Brentwood” by Mark Furhman (I am a huge forensics nerd and love true crime stories)
“Beautiful Boy” by David Sheff (true story about a father who’s son is addicted to methamphetamines)
“It’s not about the bike” by Lance Armstrong (inspiring)
“Ultra Marathon Man” by Dean Karnazes (makes you want to run and run and run some more!)
“She’s come undone” by Wally Lamb (touching)
“Wins, Losses, and Lessons” by Lou Holtz (just brilliant)

I could list about 900 more. As I’m sure you can tell, I read a myriad of different books. I typically stick to nonfiction, as I have always believed that everyone has a story to share with the world, but occasionally I will venture out. I am currently reading about five different books- a financial book by Suze Orman (from my mom), Eat/Pray/Love (an Oprah book club pick that I loaned out), Memoirs of a Geisha, a true crime book about the murder case of JonBenet Ramsey, and Tweak (the brother book to “Beautiful Boy”).

So why did I pick today to discuss my love of literature and words?! Because today was a busy day! I am laughing like a school girl right now because growing up, my little sister had a book called “Busy Day,” in which cats were dressed up as peasants and had to do a bunch of weird chores like dishes, sweeping, laundry on a washboard, etc. Now that I think of it, any chore is weird for a cat. But I LOVE animals in people clothes. I could laugh all day about it. So I did a google search to see if I could find “Busy Day” and low and behold…