No, this is not one of those Bush bashing posts. I am truly grateful to him. He did something for my husband that I have not been able to do in over 26 years of marriage. Handy Man has read three books since November and has started a fourth. During our whole marriage I would guess the number of books he's read cover to cover could be counted on one hand, so this is huge. How does someone go from not being a reader at all to reading three books in a couple months? Passion about the subject matter!
He was so upset over the policies and practices of President Bush and his administration that he started researching political history and history in general. At first his research started on the Internet and through news and radio programs. From there he heard about authors who wrote on subjects he was interested in such as our founding fathers and the writings of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He became fascinated about the way conservatives and progressives think and why they think so differently. He made a list of all the books he was interested in reading. He received the majority of them for Christmas.
Can you see him reading in the bottom left corner? That's all he ever does anymore and I LOVE it. Well it's not really all he ever does, but it warms my heart every time I see him with his nose in a book.
Here are the books he has read so far:
Right now he's reading this one:
He reads aloud to me, passages that move him. We have discussions about what he's reading. Having us read side by side and share things from the book that interest us has always been a dream of mine, so thanks W for making one of my dreams come true.
Oh I just love newly converted readers! J was the same way. He read, but not much and I started getting him reading books I really liked, like the Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter and then he was off. He's really into Vonnegut and Chrisopher Moore (I love Christopher Moore he is so funny). It's fabulous 'cause now we read together!
Good for your husband!
Posted by: Meg | January 28, 2009 at 09:25 AM
At last, something W did right!
I should probably thank him too. Your Geeky Guy reading is the equivilent of TOG's fascination with MSNBC money news and all the other investment/economic programs he watches every day. When I'm home, I get to listen to him yell at the money guys about the economy and the stock market. This may be an improvement over listening to him yell during sporting events.
Posted by: Asthmagirl | January 28, 2009 at 12:21 PM
That's so wonderful. It is through passion that insights change. Good for him.
Posted by: noble pig | January 28, 2009 at 11:11 PM
I watched the HBO miniseries "John Adams" and it prompted me to buy the book it was based on: http://www.amazon.com/John-Adams-David-McCullough/dp/0684813637
Fascinating stuff there - he might want to give it a try!
Posted by: Tammy | January 30, 2009 at 10:28 PM