So I haven't written much lately, and that's because I've been very ill. Instead, I've been working on reading a variety of books for the reading challenge. The inability to sleep for nearly a week while I was sick left me with plenty of time to lie around in a daze without the energy to do a single thing, except turn pages. So that's what I did.
I have read several books in this time: 'The Crown of Dalemark', 'Ella Enchanted', 'To Kill A Mockingbird', 'Splintered', 'Shadow's Edge', 'Theodosia and the Last Pharoah', 'Conrad's Fate', and I am now trying to complete the gardening book for the nonfiction section of my reading challenge. The siren call of fiction keeps distracting me, but I am determined to complete this book.
I have intentions to write reviews for each of the books I'm reading for this challenge. I just have to do it. Now that I have my strength and sanity back, I can! But that's for later.
What I want to talk about now is how reading helped me get through those several days of being sick, and how it's done that several times in the past.
I remember the first time I finished a chapter book all in one day. I was in third or fourth grade and home from school. The book was one of the Animorph books, by K.A. Applegate. Did you ever read those? I had the entire collection at one point.
Anyway, I was up all the first night and trying not to dwell on how awful I felt, so I dove into 'The Crown of Dalemark' by Diana. It was in the category 'A book you started but never finished' for the reading challenge. I figured if I was going to be awake, I might as well be productive, right?
Thankfully, I had just gone to the library and gotten a stack of books to read. I hadn't intended to finish 'Dalemark' all in one sitting, but it happened. So then I moved on to 'Ella Enchanted' and finished that all at once.
You see what being sick does to me. I can't say that I mind much, though. It makes me think of Rainbow Dash in the episode of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" when she is stuck in the hospital and begins reading the Daring Do books.
It took a while for me to start feeling better, so I just kept reading. The nice thing about reading is that you can take it as slowly or as quickly as you want. When my head was spinning, I read very slowly, sometimes out loud, to give me something else to focus on. If it got to be too energy sapping, such as during dramatic points in the story, I would take a break and nap. When napping wasn't happening, my wonderful husband would read out loud from one of the books he was reading at the time. I had already read them, so it didn't matter if they were random chapters from various books, I still knew what was going on.
Reading helped me feel better by lifting my spirits, giving me something to do, and making me laugh. Laughter is supposed to be the best medicine. If that's the case, I hate to think of how much longer I would have been sick without it.
What books do you enjoy reading when you're ill? Do you have any fond memories despite being sick?
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