I have recently been consumed with important things (the job, the kid, the husband), and wasting time with not so important things (lying on the sofa, fall decorating, lying on the sofa), and have neglected my cool things (blog and social media). Also during this time, the list of books I need to read has grown. There were so many writers at the Decatur Book Festival last month it will take me until next year’s festival to read all of their work. That list will be coming your way in a future post.

Early this week my old roommate, blogger, and foodie Ed stopped by for drinks and a heaping helping of Korean food from K BBQ Takorea. After we stuffed our bellies with bibimbop and pork buns he told me that there was something I MUST write about on my blog. Actually he told me about two things and they are both right up my bookish alley.

The first thing is a kick ass app that basically speed reads books to you. It is called Flash Reader. With this app you are able to import books from your Kindle library, set your preferred font size and the number of words per minute estimate you read, and the story appears one word at a time on your screen. I know it sounds strange but you have to download it to believe it. The experience that I have using it is akin to hearing a song’s individual notes one at a time and that making the music even richer and more engaging. Yes, I know that sounds strange too. Just go download it. The app is free and compatible with iPhone, iPad and iTouch devices.

The second bit of awesomeness he told me about are the Zombie Fallout, A Shrouded World, and Book of Riley book series by Mark Tufo. The crazy thing is Ed is kind of over zombies. He has walked away from The Walking Dead as he thinks it is a whole lot of gore porn now and that they have really gotten away from the psychological and societal aspects of the show which made the characters so compelling. With that in mind I was surprised he was so excited about these books. But after telling me that the books cover parallel universes and the zombie apocalypse from a dogs perspective, I knew that I needed to start reading Tufo’s work also. If you find this sort of randomness intriguing visit Tufo’s website .

However, before I dive into the un-dead,  I need to finish the book I am currently about the living. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki is about moments, and time, and fate. It is the story of an older woman reading the diary of a younger woman  and it has been a joy learning about these vastly different souls and the written pages that tie them together. I highly recommend it.

What are you reading??