See me read

Reading has preoccupied me a lot this last week (in between lengthy negotiations about how to manage numerous Mothers Day activities for our mothers and yours truly).

I have finally joined a bookclub, and we had our first meeting on Thursday. It was just as I had hoped and expected.


Now while it would be lovely to have the likes of Hugh Dancy in our bookclub (as pictured here in a publicity still from The Jane Austen Bookclub), it's made up of an interesting bunch of busy working mothers from my kids' primary school and friends who live locally. None of us can be described as shy retiring types, so it made for a very funny evening.

Naturally enough, we only spoke about the chosen book for about ten per cent of the time; the rest of the evening we discussed (and laughed uproariously at) life in general. I don't think that anyone joined this group expecting that we'd be revisiting an English 101 tutorial.

Our first book was an autobiography by the Australian daughter of Cambodian/Chinese refugees. Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem was amusing and interesting, and nicely fitted in with one of the reasons why I wanted to join a bookclub - it's not a book I would have normally read.

I do most of my reading these days on the train to and from work (I seem to have lost the habit of reading in bed of late). Looks like I'll have to remember to pack my reading glasses for the journey now though.

I've been feeling that my eyesight is beginning to deteriorate over the last few months, particularly when I'm working on the computer. Hardly surprising really, as my optometrist told me a couple of years ago that almost everyone in Australia starts needing reading glasses at some point in their 40s. So while my long distance sight is excellent, I now have to get a pair of low strength reading glasses.

The hard part starts now - what frames to choose? I think I've found some very nice, low key Leona Edmiston ones, but I've decided that I might need some like-minded help selecting a suitable pair. My optometrist is a delightful fellow, but the women in his shop lean towards flashy 'statement' eyewear. I just need to decide what statement I want to make, and it's not "I drive a very expensive luxury people mover".