Lost in a Book

So yesterday I started to read The Hunger Games, book one.  It was fun cause I really hardly knew anything about it, so it was all new and kept me wondering and guessing.  I stayed up until 2 a.m. reading "just one more chapter." Then "Ok, just one more." Another 20 minutes later... "What time is it?  Ok, this is the last one." Got to chapter 25, forced myself to put it down, then I think I fell asleep around 3.

Ethan and I had a race, and he beat me in finishing his book The Candy Shop War before I finished Hunger Games, then he followed me around like a hyena waiting for the lionesses to finish her prey.  It's fun to read a book with the kids, and he wants me to read Candy Shop, but I've probably got my fiction fix for a while. Maybe I'll pick it up when Corey's gone next week, but I've got so much to do, I'd rather listen to it on cd while I paint or something, so much I want to do, I need to multi-task or I won't survive.  My house is a wreck since I didn't get the kids to work yesterday and I didn't work either.  My life might not be too ideal for getting lost in books right now.  Atleast not books that I can't put down.  But it was a fun book.  But I also feel bad to only spend 20 minutes in scriptures or conference talks and then spend 6 hours in a fiction book.  But there are some good lessons to be learned from the Hunger Games.  But just not where I should be investing my time.  I have this magazine clipping on my bathroom wall -

Keep All Things in Balance - 

“One of the ways Satan lessens your effectiveness and weakens your spiritual strength is by encouraging you to spend large blocks of your time doing things that matter very little. I speak of such things as sitting for hours on end watching television or videos, playing video games night in and night out, surfing the Internet, or devoting huge blocks of time to sports, games, or other recreational activities.

“Don’t misunderstand me. These activities are not wrong in and of themselves (unless, of course, you are watching salacious programs or seeking out pornographic images on the Internet). …

“But I speak of letting things get out of balance. …

“One devastating effect of idling away our time is that it deflects us from focusing on the things that matter most. Too many people are willing to sit back and let life just happen to them. It takes time to develop the attributes that will help you to be a well-balanced person.”  

- Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Be Strong in the Lord,” Ensign, July 2004, 13–14.

Reading fiction isn't necessarily "idling away" my time, but it might not exactly be taking me towards the goals I have for myself.  Hunger Games did make me get out of balance, so either I need to learn how to keep balance while reading fun books like that, or I need to steer clear of them.  I've got like 6 books I'm in right now.  Atleast with Hunger Games I finished it and can check it off, unlike the others that sit around half read for months ~