Olden days

When I was younger, I read every book I could get my hands on. This is because I lived in the country and there was nothing else to do. My friends did not live nearby. My siblings were too young to be of any use. We didn't have cable. Books were my life.

I remember reading the Little House on the Prairie Books - our neighbor loved to buy me books and she bought the whole box set, which I still have. I read Little Women in fifth grade (though I didn't understand or appreciate it until many years later). I even read my fair share of Nancy Drew And then there was L.M. Montgomery - I started by devouring the entire Anne of Green Gables series before moving on to some of her other books.

My question is - do kids "these days" still read these books, which I consider to be classics? And, really, do they read at all? Or are they too busy with shiny games, interwebz, television.

I'm not much of a gamer but I definitely spend more time in front of the tv or on the computer than I should. I have to make a very conscious effort to read books even though I love reading and enjoy getting lost in the stories.

I like to fool myself that when I'm online, I'm writing. But, really, am I? Yeah, I puke up a post each day but how often am I actually "writing"?

My most recent "Cate's Book Club" selections have been great reads but also rather depressing. Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen, is the true story of a serial killer during the turn of the century Chicago World's Fair. My next two books were The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, both by Khaled Hosseini. Fascinating fictional accounts of life in Afghanistan. Horrifying and eye-opening and I'm so glad I read both books but they were not light fluffy reads.

The rest of my current library pile includes two books on Buddhism, a James Patterson book (#7 of the Women's Murder Club - I find his books to be great for travel or appointments because of the short chapters), and a David Sedaris book. I think I'll hit the rest of my borrowed books but then I'm very much considering revisiting the worlds of Laura Ingalls and Anne Shirley.

Oh, to be a kid again. Am I too old to be reading these books again? And am I too young for a midlife crisis?