Good books (and other things that mess up my schedule)

As you may have noticed, I have been rather quiet this week. Its been a bit of an odd week, schedule-wise. Most of my office is away at a conference, so I have been almost or entirely alone at work. This happens from time to time, and has the potential for disaster in terms of productivity. I am sure that the absence of any concrete form of accountability is detrimental to many people's productivity, but it is especially problematic for people with ADHD. Long stretches of time with no structure and only vague due-dates are not my friend.

Fortunately, this particular circumstance arises often enough that I have worked out a coping strategy: Before the dead-office week begins, I write a to-do list for the whole week, setting goals which are reasonable to accomplish in a work-week's time. Then, I allow myself to relax things like hours and dress code, just as long as I make progress on the list every day. The result is often a more productive week than usual... but that's only productive in terms of work-work, not so much in terms of things I do to procrastinate from work-work (like, say, blogging).

Another reason for the lack of blogging is that I've been consumed all week by the "Chaos Walking" trilogy by Patrick Ness, which begins with this book:

My friend Kate (who happened to write one of my favorite books of 2010) recently mentioned the final book of this series, Monsters of Men, as one of her favorite books of 2010 on her blog.  She mentioned it alongside Mockingjay, the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy, and advised that "anybody who liked The Hunger Games" should start reading Chaos Walking "immediately if not sooner." I had never heard of Chaos Walking, but Kate has never steered me wrong where books are concerned and I love The Hunger Games, so I obeyed Kate's instructions at once. I fired up my Kindle and learned that Ness actually wrote a short prequel to Chaos Walking, The New World, which is available exclusively on the Kindle for free. Smart marketing! I read the prequel in about 20 minutes, and afterward I immediately downloaded all three full-length books and cleared my schedule for several days.

I get a little obsessive about books that I love. Reading is probably my all-time favorite activity (sorry, counseling, running, and eating), and I've always been a fast reader. Thus, I tend to go through a book or two a week just by reading a bit during dinner and before bed. When I find a book I really love, I am totally consumed. I must inhale it as quickly as possible, and then I usually read it once or twice more just to catch anything I missed the first time. I read Kate's book, The Boneshaker, three times the week it came out. I read each of the three Hunger Games books in one feverish day, and I've re-read them several times since. When I discover books like these, I find it impossible not to stay up too late and ignore other people and responsibilties until I've finished reading. (One of my best romantic relationships almost ended prematurely when the final Harry Potter book happened to come out on our anniversary.) 

The Chaos Walking books are the kind of books that make me obsessive. Kate is exactly right that these books are similar to The Hunger Games- in themes, audience, creativity, and addictiveness. I don't want to say too much about them because they hinge on suspense and surprise; I'll just say that I think they are examples of the best kind of books for younger readers. They address big and important themes (war, terrorism, colonialism, the modern information overload) in ways that are relatable without being dumbed-down. Plus, the stories and characters are engaging enough to keep the books from veering into preachy/overly philosophical territory. If you are a Hunger Games fan, you should definitely try these- just be forewarned that Ness's books are much longer, more difficult, and a little darker (hardly seems possible, but its true).

(And, if you have no idea what I'm talking about because you've never read of heard of any of the books listed above, you should follow the links, make a few purchases, and clear your calendar for the next few weeks!)