I Shall Live and Die by the Love of Books
The end of the year brings lists of books from every print publication around. “The Best Books of 2009, Books You Should Have Read in 2009, You Are an Idiot if You Didn’t Read These Books in 2009”Ok, I made the last one up. My problem is that the list of books I want to read is far exceeding the number of waking hours I believe I have left in my life. Do I feel a resolution for 2010 coming on? I hereby swear that I will commit 2 to 3 (or more) hours a day reading. This will cut into my Stumble Upon, Bejeweled Blitz and Reality TV addictions, but it is something that I believe will make my life a bit more relative and will help me eliminate books from my collection faster than I collect them. (Yeah, sure.)
Anyway, this started out because of my addiction to Stumble Upon. One of the interests that I listed was, of course, books. So I came across this article from the Guardian . What luck, book lists of what to read and now, a list of books that I have never heard of that I should have read over the past decade.
I suppose I should start searching for them. And them add them to the tilting tower next to the bed. And hopefully complete them before the end of the next decade.
WHATEVER WAS I THINKING? 
So, what I want to know is this: Why is it that on Supernanny none of homes she visits contains any books? Of all people, I certainly know the difference between correlation and causation, but still – NONE of them read?
I limit myself to two hours of book reading per day. Last month I read 6 books cover to cover. That’s a sustainable pace, but I’ve found myself cheating for a little more reading time here and there, kind of “chipping,” if you remember that term. I always have more than one book going. I think I probably have some form of ADD: I read 20 minutes of one book, 40 minutes of another, another 30 on a third book, and finish with some more of book number 1.
Right now I’m reading “Raymond Carver – A Writer’s Life” by Carol Sklenicka, still picking my way slowly through the Pynchon book, and reading Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories.” I just finished “The Gargoyle,” which I thoroughly enjoyed!
Trust me, it ain’t just on Supernanny. I’ve seen it A LOT in people’s homes right here in Texas. I’ve even been friends with people whose house had no trace of books, magazines, wall color, etc. I use the past tense because we didn’t make it as friends. There’s just something amiss there.
And don’t even get me started on the baby machines on Supernanny. Funny how they have SEVERAL small children all at one time. Gee, that just makes sense. NOT. Idiots earned their predicament.
I so need to start reading again.
The only time I really read an actual book is at coffeebars in bookstores like Borders or Barnes & Nobles. I can’t tell you how many books I have read the first forty pages of, and then gone on to something else.
I recently downloaded a book reader to my smart phone so we’ll see if I actually read the books I download.
Now blog reading is another story for sure. I read one or two whenever I have some downtime during the day.
Hope you’re feeling better.
Waving at you from New York