The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Day 3/90 – Phoenix Public Library

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 3 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? The Phoenix Public Library!

    Only in Arizona do they have to tell you to check your gun at the library
    Only in Arizona do they have to tell you to check your gun at the library

    The public library may be the most under-utilized resource in the community. Thousands of books and movies are free for your borrowing pleasure! I’ve started using it on a regular basis in the last few years and I love it.

    Through the Phoenix Public Library website, I have an online account that contains my lists of books I want to read and movies I want to see. When I want to borrow something, I simply reserve it and they ship to my neighborhood branch where they set it aside with my name on it. I can swing by on my way home from work and pick it up – and be in and out in less than 5 minutes.

    When it comes to movies, a lot of people ask me, “Why don’t you just get Netflix?” No offense to Netflix, but why would I pay $8/month for something I can get for free? I’d rather put that money towards my next pair of running shoes.

    I never got into movies as a kid. I was too busy with school and gymnastics – so now I’m playing catch up on my cinematic education thanks to recommendations from listening to Profiles with Malone and Mantz, my favorite podcast about movies.

    Lately, I’ve been checking out 3-5 movies a week. It’s too hot to spend much time outside in the Arizona heat, so the summer is the best time to catch up on movies. Today I checked out American Sniper, The Book Thief, and Jerry Maguire.

    Summer Lunch Program at my branch of the Phoenix Public Library
    Summer Lunch Program at my branch of the Phoenix Public Library

    When it comes to books, I generally only buy them if a friend is the author or if I’m going to a book signing. Otherwise, I start by borrowing the book from the library and then buy it if it’s something I’ll want a copy of on my shelf to re-read. When I did my big minimalism clean-out project when I moved into my condo, I set aside a box of books and labeled it “Read Me.” Any books that are still in the box at the end of the year will be given away. Because of this deadline, I’m working through these books instead of the library’s.

    I want to give a huge hat tip to the Phoenix Public Library, not just for lending me awesome books and movies, but also for offering a summer lunch program to help families who rely on school lunch programs to feed their children.

    Bonus: Did you know that the library has cultural passes? You can check them out to visit local attractions like the Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix Art Museum for free!

    In case you missed it: Day 2 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Rosie Goes Where I Go!

  • Falling Back in Love with Reading

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    Ruth Carter

    Last year I realized that law school sucked my love of reading out of me. I had to read so much for my classes that the last thing I wanted to during my down time was read for pleasure. At the end of the day the most I’d read was Texts From Last Night. After the bar exam my brain was so fried I couldn’t read anything for two days.

    I <3 2 read by katerha from Flickr
    I <3 2 read by katerha from Flickr

    Now, I come from a family of voracious readers, so it’s weird that I barely read anything for years for my own enjoyment. I used to devour books. I made the decision at the end of last year to make reading a priority – and it’s been heavenly.

    My goal this year is to read 2 books a month – one for fun and one for business. It’s hard to make myself read the business books, but the books for fun have been absolutely wonderful. I flop into bed every night and tell myself that I’m going to read 10 pages from my book, and I usually end up reading closer to 20. I read until I’m so tired that the words on the page are blurry.

    I love to read nonfiction work. There’s something about reading about a person’s real life that is gripping. When I read nonfiction, I’m way more likely to remember it because it’s real. I forget big chunks of the fiction books I read and I think it’s because my brain knows the story isn’t real, so why bother remembering it. I recently read Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A modest bestiary by David Sedaris. I love David Sedaris’ work so when I saw he had a book out that I hadn’t read, I checked it out from the library without looking beyond the front cover. It turned out to be a collection of short fictional stories about animals. I read the book (It didn’t do anything for me – sorry David) and each night I picked it up, I couldn’t remember what I had read the night before – it just wasn’t important enough to remember.

    I rarely buy books that I know I’m going to read once unless I know the author, so I’ve been loving the Phoenix Public Library this year. I took suggestions from my friends and my virtual bookshelf is up to 68 books that I want to read. The first book I checked out was Anderson Cooper’s Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival. It was fantastic! Right now I’m reading You’re Not Doing It Right: Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death, and Other Humiliations by Michael Ian Black and I’m loving it. I’m looking forward to trying out the library’s ebook borrowing program so I can get library books on my Kindle. The library has a great system where you can put a book on hold and it will be waiting for you on the first floor with your name on it, but getting books without having to leave the house is even better.

    Reading is still a chore for me to get started each time but I’m so grateful to be reading books again. I’m looking forward to reading Heads in Beds: a reckless memoir of hotels, hustles, and so-called hospitality by Jacob Tomsky; Argo: how the CIA and Hollywood pulled off the most audacious rescue in history by Antonio Mendez; and I Killed: true stories of the road from America’s top comics by Ritch Shydner and Mark Schiff.