Literature

Remembrance of Books from the Past

~ nfreim ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been going through my books, compiling a list.  It’s a checklist of sorts as I’m going to attempt to actually get through my TBR pile before death.  I figured it was either that or just move the books over and over until I die and my relatives show up to cart the lot off to the local library.

At any rate, my book collection is a decent size.  Not every book I’ve ever owned (and yes, I miss some of the ones I’ve given up!) because that would be too many to move over and over.  Some got donated in an effort to lighten boxes or save space. 

But as I have been creating my list, I’ve been reminded of some very cool titles that I have.  So many books that I picked up and planned to read and then just didn’t.  It’s not always my fault, though – Borders had a going out of business sale! And the library purges books!  I was morally obligated to rescue as many as I could!

Books are also reminders of life.  Different occasions for getting books – different times.  Who was I when I picked up this fantasy or that romance?  When did I first experience that author?  Was the book a gift from someone, recommended by someone?  Is there an inscription?

I know some people don’t like to read books over because there’s a finite amount of time in life and so many books.  I can respect that sentiment – since my jokes about downloading my brain into a cyborg body in order to live longer enough to read ALL THE BOOKS are just jokes.  (When Skynet takes over, we’re all toast – they won’t be handing out cyborg bodies.)

I do like to reread.  Contrasting the new experience with the old is useful, I think.  And a reread is relaxing because I already know how the book is going to go.  Although from looking at my catalog, I can tell that there will be some books which I barely recall.  My memory is good, but not eidetic, sadly. 

I’m going to try to limit how many new books I bring in to the collection.  Of course, when a book-aholic says she’ll “limit” her book buying, that really just means to specific books.  Like filling in missing books in a series or replacing a book that is falling apart or getting the new release from a favorite author . . .

Look, that IS restraint for someone like me!

I’m a practitioner of tsundoku. 

That’s an art form, right?

Well, I will try to weed out a few books as I go through the collection.  I want to get rid of anything that I don’t really need or wouldn’t read again. 

After all, I do still have my office to get through – thought it was only one cart full of books taken from the library.

Don’t give me that look – they were going to be thrown out – they needed a new home!

Doesn’t Everyone?

~ nfreim ~ Leave a comment

If you are a fan of The Dresden Files, you probably already know that the sixteenth book in the series came out today.  And if you are a fan of the series, you’ve probably been waiting for this book ever since the last one – in 2014.  As Jim Butcher was working on this book, it became so long that it was split into two, and we’re getting the seventeenth book in September (a mere 77 days from now!).

Tangent – I’ve seen some people online who were complaining earlier this year – along the lines of “screw Butcher for taking too damn long to write this book! No way I’m buying it!!”  Look, from 2000 through 2015, the guy put out 23 books.  Not counting graphic novels and various short stories and other writings.  So if he needed some extra time on this one because life happens, that’s just fine with me.  He’s not a trained monkey to dance when the fans want him to.  I wonder if these are the same type of people who ask artists to do things for them at a huge discount and/or for free just “for the exposure” (insert eye-roll emoji here).

Back to the main point.  The new book release.  And my apparently weird habit.

When I’m reading a series and the next book is coming out, I go back and re-read the series.  Or sometimes I just re-read a series for the heck of it.  (Disclaimer: I’ve never read the whole Wheel of Time  series – I’ve been assured that that would break my habit.)  I figured this is something everyone does, but I was recently informed that “normal” people don’t do that.

All I can say is that they’re missing out.

Now I do have friends who read more slowly than I do, and they’ve said they have to be selective about what they read simply in the interest of time.  (Only so much time and so many books so why re-read something?)  I can see that.  

But re-reading something – just like re-watching a film – can give me another layer of understanding and enjoyment.  And in something like this series, with its world building and constant expansion of mythos, a re-read lets me have everything fresh in my mind.  I’m even reading them in order – with the short stories and graphic novels in chronological order. (Yes, I’m that sort of book nerd.  I’m good with it.)

I am teaching summer class, however, and dealing with (gesturing vaguely at the world), so I did not get my re-read started as early as I would have liked.  I’m not through with the old stuff and ready to start the new one.

That’s fine with me.  Anticipation can be a lovely thing.

A friend speculated that I’d give in and crack the new book within 48 hours.  I said that wouldn’t happen.  I can wait.  I can take my time and enjoy all the stories along the way.  If I time it right, I can finish Peace Talks right before Battle Ground comes out – all one big story.  (And read some other stuff in the meantime.)

Besides, in case the next installment after these takes time, I should make 16 & 17 last, right?  

It’s not like I have a bunch of other books waiting to be read . . . oh.  Yeah.  

To Be Read . . .

~ nfreim ~ Leave a comment

I’ve seen the claim that reading one hour a day in your chosen field will make you an international expert in that field within 7 years.  I don’t know about the veracity of that claim, though the idea of regular reading does logically lead to expanded knowledge.  What does reading an hour a day translate to?  That naturally depends on the material being read and the individual’s ability.  

I did time myself once, but I realized quickly that the number was pointless.  Because page layouts and fonts vary so widely, the number didn’t mean a lot unless I was counting words instead of pages, something I did not want to be bothered to do.  Plus, the material made a difference; subject matter and whether I stopped to take notes as I went drastically affected my reading time in this experiment (up to 120 pages for a paperback, down to 25 for a literary theory book while taking notes).  Not to mention how mental alertness / state of mind can come into play.

Like many ink drinkers, I have a long list of books that I want to read eventually.  A suggestion here, a snippet here, and the phrase  “I’ll add it to the list” leads to pages in a notebook (or, let’s be honest, a stack of paper scraps and receipts and napkins, often tucked into a book) covered with titles of books that we know we will never get around to reading.

Because most book lovers haven’t finished the books we already own.

So what if I just want to read the books I already have?

Well, how much can I read?  Knowing it all varies wildly, let’s just go with an average.  Let’s say 60 pages in an hour – one page a minute.  Assuming an hour a day and considering variations in reading material, let’s call it an average of one book a week.  52 books a year.  Let’s say a reader does this every year from age 25 to 85.  60 years of reading.

That’s only 3120 books.

If I count everything, from paperbacks to cookbooks, I’ve got around 2000 books.  Some of those are short (a graphic novel is an afternoon read) and some are long (the complete works of Shakespeare).  And I’m not counting all my single issues of comics. Of course some of these I have already read, and some are not really for “reading.”  A collection of knitting projects isn’t something I sit down and read from start to finish; I flip through the book when I get it and then I read the individual projects when I want to try them.  (Not to mention how boring it would be to read every knitting pattern in a row – how many “k3, p2tog, (yo p3, p2 tog) yo, k3” combos would it take to put me to sleep?)

I’m also not starting from 25 here.  

The question next becomes how I proceed through my collection.  Do I pick a genre and read all of those?  All the poetry before moving on to essays?  All the anthologies first?  Use alphabetical order and read everything under A before moving on?  Just vow to myself that I will read a different book from the shelf each time I reach for a new book?  

I think I’m leaning towards alphabetical – but leaving the anthologies for the end.  I thought about trying to go through each anthology and read all the As and so forth, but I think any anthology can be left for the end.  And, in the interest of time, any book that I’ve read in the last three years (since I moved) or that I’ve read multiple times can be skipped if needed.

After all, I only have so much time left.  There’s never enough time for all the books we read-rats (German version of “bookworm”) want to devour.

Carpe liber!!