I still haven't finished Hitchhiker. But I have a good excuse, or at least an excuse. About a month ago I helped organize a book club. The first meeting to actually discuss a book is tomorrow evening. I had ordered the book from the library and it didn't come in until last week so that's pretty much all the "fun" reading I've been doing.

One of the main reasons (at least one of my main reasons) for joining a book club is to find out what other people are reading and to discover new genres or books that haven't made it into your world view. Fortunately, this doesn't require that you like any of the chosen books-just that you read them with an open mind and listen to other's opinions and viewpoints. If you find a gem, so much the better. At least you've broadened your horizons just a bit, increased your abilility to respond to new ideas and, hopefully, enjoyed the company of the rest of the group.

These is My Words, The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901, Arizona Territories by Nancy E Turner is not a book that I would have picked up on my own so I had a hard time diving right in and being as devoted as I would be with a murder mystery or sci-fi or something that just caught my eye. The beginning reminded me of the Little House series. And, while I loved that particular series, I generally am not interested in that period of time, or stories of the wild west or the settlers, or westerns. So I struggled to stay motivated. However, it became easier as the book progressed. It started out using the voice of a teen girl who had never been to school and had taught herself to read and write. The language and grammar progressed along with the book and became more sophisticated. There are no chapters as such, just diary entries and the writer does a good job of letting the girl grow into womanhood and describe her life and activities, and helping us care for the people in her world. In short, (because I'm trying hard to stay short!) I did become involved. I still would not choose that era to read about but I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to hearing what others have to say about it as well.