Why Have I Read Only One Book By So Many Authors?

I recently started asking myself the question that is the title to this post, why have I read only one book by so many authors?  There are authors, who after reading one of their books, I say I'm going to read more by them, but don't. They range from classic to contemporary, from serious literature to genre fiction, from very famous to lesser known.  I decided to compile a list:

Nick Hornby - A Long Way Down

Hanan Al-Shaykh - Only In London

Zora Neale Hurston - Their Eyes Were Watching God

Anna Davis - Cheet

Jeanette Winterson - Weight

Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome

Carol Shields - Dressing Up For The Carnival

Salman Rushdie - Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife

Rohinton Mistry - Family Matters

Rabindranath Maharaj - The Book of Ifs and Buts

Stieg Larsson - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Elizabeth Hay - Small Change

Francesca Lia Block - The Rose and the Beast

Karen Armstrong - A Short History of Myth

There were more, but these were the ones that stood out the most.  I liked all of these books, loved some of them. I intended (and still do) to read more by these authors.  Why haven't I yet?  I'm not sure. For many of these authors, I already own another book by them. Why are they still unread?  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in a trilogy and I have the other two books!  It's embarrassing. Why haven't I read Salman Rushdie's Fury or Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry or Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth?  Can someone tell me?

I own a lot of books. An insane, bordering on hoarder, amount of books. Are they too distracting?  I don't know if I lack focus; I have read Family Matters and Their Eyes Were Watching God. Do I want to read ALL the authors, even if I can't read all the authors' books? Maybe something like that. 

I recently read The Last Policeman, by Ben H. Winters. Will I be reading more by him? 

Elysium

Elysium is one of those "summer blockbusters" from last year. There were so many though, it was difficult to keep them all straight. Once I got a look at Elysium's trailer, knew the premise and saw who was starring, I knew this was a movie I'd like to see. The base of Elysium's premise was not new, but interestingly done. Elysium is not the first movie/story to imagine what will happen with an extreme separation of the rich and poor, but I haven't see the space station in the sky, looming over the poor before. It's as though the station is mocking those stuck in the pollution of the Earth. It hangs above people too poor to ever get there. It's also sad to think that instead of making Earth better, the rich merely escape it and continue to pollute it. 

I enjoyed Elysium, but I didn't love it. I really wanted to. I enjoyed Matt Damon and Jodie Foster and the other actors/characters on screen. The actions sequences were intense and well done. Something was just missing for me, some kind of spark or connection between me and what was happening. I feel like Elysium didn't quite meet its potential. I do recommend it, though, if you're a fan of grown-up sci-fi/dystopian stories.

Undead and Undermined

***Spoilers if you haven't read the previous nine books - though I'll try to be vague.***

Though I want to throw all kinds of love at the book, typing the the title of the post has me thinking... How is Betsy undermined in Undead and Undermined? By Laura?  Certainly not by Sinclair or Tina (not since the beginning of the series.)  Maybe by Marc?  By Garrett? Okay, maybe now I get the undermined. Sometimes it helps to see my thoughts in writing.

I'm really enjoying the way that the Undead series is going.  I know there are a lot of people who are not, but I think they're in the minority. If Betsy stayed the same ditz she was in Undead and Unwed the series would get stale.  Betsy is growing.  She's learning more about herself and what she's capable of. Asking for the shoes, the final confrontation with the Marc-Thing, her realization at the end about Laura, they are not the thoughts of Betsy in Undead and Unwed or even Betsy in Undead and Uneasy.  I was started to get annoyed with Betsy's behaviour too, how could she remain the same airhead for so long? That's probably why there is such a big gap between me reading book 7 and book 8. I know not everyone feels this way, but I'm glad MaryJanice Davidson is allowing Betsy to change. Betsy (and Davidson) still loves shoes, but I think Betsy is finally taking being the vampire queen seriously.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I enjoyed The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug more than I thought I would, though I did expect to at least like it.  I found An Unexpected Journey a little long. Though this second movie was only a few minutes shorter than the first, it felt shorter. There weren't as many scenes of the group crossing the countryside. There was a lot more action.  Perhaps there was more action in the movie than was in the actual book, but after An Unexpected Journey I've kind of given up on The Hobbit movies being like the book.  It's similar enough and though Legolas was not it The Hobbit I enjoyed seeing him and his bow. However, (SPOILER) love triangle with a dwarf? Really?  I like it, but don't like it at the same time.  I know they probably added the female elf to get a female into the movie, but only to be in a love triangle.  Hmm...

There were a lot of things I loved about this movie.  It was beautiful.  I actually really liked the elven prisons. I thought Legolas's relationship with his father was interesting and the King's perspective on the outside world.  I loved Bilbo.  I loved the dwarves staying with Kili... I love Kili in general.  I loved the piles of gold and the things peaking out of the gold.  I love that the movie kept me excited.

I was sorry that I didn't get to see The Desolation of Smaug in theatres.  Timing and children were at play here.  It looks like it would have been worth it.  I'm glad to have finally seen the second Hobbit movie and I'm looking forward to the third.

Not This Again

Is there something fundamentally unemployable about me? Someone please tell me if there is.

I'm unemployed, AGAIN!  How does this keep happening to me?  By posting this, am I telling the internet I'm not employable?  I swear I am.  I'm a hard worker.  I'm smart.  I'm polite and friendly.  I could post my friggin' résumé up here....  Though this happened two weeks ago, I'm still mad.

Okay, so, it's not as though I liked the job.  It was not me.  It was too mean.  I ate lunch by myself, which I tried to make a good thing and read a lot, but it wasn't nice and I didn't feel comfortable.  I didn't seem to have friendly chats with people, though I tried.  That's what you do with new co-workers, right?  You try to get to know them. I don't know if anyone was trying to get to know me.  I had moody co-workers.  I was frustrated by the lack of training.  I didn't feel like I belonged.  So, when the boss told me I wasn't a good fit, I couldn't say that he was lying.  My issue was that the reason he gave had nothing to do with my work or working ability, my intelligence or task completion.  It was all based on feelings. I talked to my Dad. He apparently had a similar issue in his working life.  He told me, whenever you work for a privately owned company, they could hire and fire as they saw fit because it was their business. It didn't matter if your work was perfect, if they didn't like you or their friend didn't like you, they'd let you go. I think that's what happened here.

What do I do?

Again I'm going to look for work... because I enjoy that so much.  I'm going to be pickier this time because I'm tired of not being employed for long.  I want permanence and stability.  Even though people will be interviewing me, I'm going to be interviewing them too.  I'm looking for a non-moody employer with proper HR procedures and a comfortable working environment.

Bah!