reading and writing

My routine for writing fell apart.  My head can't get into writing mode while I'm listening for my son's calls for help.  Being a full-time caregiver doesn't allow for creative juices to start flowing.  However, there are quiet spells when I can read.  So, in the past month or two, I've read several books.  Notably, I read one "adult" book (an Anne Perry mystery), and one juvenile novel written in 1957--that was an eye-opener on how easily a book can be dated without the author even trying.  It was a good read, called Donna Parker, Special Agent, by Marcia Martin, published by Whitman Publishing Company.  The third book was recommended to me by my 15-year-old grandson, and I really didn't have any idea what sort of book he might recommend.  He was very enthusiastic about it, mentioning it on a couple of occasions and finally lending me his copy.  At first, I didn't care for it because there were a lot of flashbacks, and the prologue gave away what I thought was better left to be discovered by the reader.  However, Zack was right.  It was a remarkable book, called Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo, Bantam Books, published in 1989 but first published in 1939.  Not the kind of book you'd expect a kid to read.  Gave me a whole new  insight into "what boys read"--the perennial problem of kid-lit writers.