While some people have a problem getting through the days of the week without shooting heroin, I start getting shaky and paranoid if I'm not buying a book or two. While buying books is completely legal it doesn't help that I rarely finish a book cover to cover. I'm infamous for starting three or four books at a time with every intention of finishing each of them. It's like I have this wordy strain of A.D.D. or something.
I was a bit relived and overjoyed when I came across The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby. I think the subtitle says it best:
The small book collects a series of articles, originally written for Believer magazine, in which he lists the books purchased against the books read in one month followed by a description of his reading activity. It's easy to digest but more importantly it gives a glimpse into the reading habits of a person I can identify with, unlike my wife who can read a thousand pages in an afternoon.
I can't say that this book is going to change my own reading demons — I mean, who's bright idea was it to invent reading and laying on a couch or in bed? Dammit man, that's just a recipe for sleep if ever I've come across one. Maybe, though I don't hold much hope, this book will help change all of that. More likely it will help me feel ok with buying my next arm load of books.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
Three words: Lie. Brare. Eee.
Sure, I used to own books, but then I realized that:
1) They collect more dust than I can afford to keep
2) My appetite for books goes way beyond my budget
3) Tech books go out of style so fast that its a gamble to really buy them unless they're web books, in which case IE keeps them 'fresh' for years.
Damn, I remember Believer. Used to buy it all the time; should look into that again... it had (has?) awesome design if I remember correctly.
Instead of books I buy a lot of magazines - esspecially stuff that goes way over my head, like Harpers & the Economist - and just read them on the metro.
Randy--
I get your point... Myself, I'm stuck somewhere between the library and the bookstore (and the Internet cafe).
The difficulty with libraries, IMHO, is this: I believe it was Theodore Ruskin (or was it Teddy Ruxpin?) who said something like, "There are two kinds of books: the books of the hour, and the books of all time." Now, what are the chances your local library actually has any of the books of the hour, if you happened to hear about it and want to take a look? Nada. And as for the books of all time--nevermind that, they're already checked out.
So I end up putting the unurgent and unimportant books on my Amazon wishlist, where they age like cheap grape juice... and eventually I stare at the title sourly and wonder why I put it there in the first place place, click the 'X' and its gone. One less README.
Of course, some books sneak their way on to the "important" list, get bought, then age on the shelf until their paper has that proper new book scent (you know, the bleachy stench is gone and it smells like real paper again). Perhaps someday this one will really get read...
I think something's wrong with me.
What's pleasure reading for me? Descartes' Discource on Method Meditation.. either that or PHP5 & MySQL. Yikes... people think I'm reading for a class when they walk in my room, but alas - I'm only reading for 'pleasure.'
I like books. They're portable. They're easy. They're cheap when it comes down to it. I suppose my speed of reading (slowly) helps me a bit. I just buy books as I get time, either that or steal some classics from friends.
Maybe the problem is one of geography.
For example, when one spends a summer working on a copy desk in Idaho Falls, Idaho, one finds oneself reading far more than one does when one lives in San Francisco. (Or the El Lay area, as in your case, which has as many, if not more, distractions than SF.) There's little else to do in IF other than kill things, drink, or read. As one with an aversion to killing things who was born into a family with a penchant for alcoholism, I found reading to be the best alternative.
So there you go. Move to Idaho Falls. Believe you me, you'll read those books. (Unless you're into killing things and drinking yourself blind.) I came back to SF with no less than 30 books, all read cover to cover -- twice, in some cases. (Including Mr. Meyer's CSS: The Definitive Guide, which I actually read thrice. Really. It was a long summer.)
But, are you going to finish this book from cover to cover?
I have the same affliction about reading multiple books simultaneously. Most days it depends on my mood to what kind of book I feel like reading. I have a stack of them by my nightstand and yet I still go to the book store to browse. It might be a very slow process but I do tend to finish them. Although it could be out of fashion by then, Sigh...
The bane of my life is secondhand stores or charity stores. You can buy a book for 50p (30c?)!!
I'm a 3 or 4 book at a time kinda guy but read in spurts. I can lock the doors and read two books in a day or go through an entire week reading no more than the ketchup label.
That reminds me, I've not read any Nick Hornby for a while... where is my copy of High Fidelity??
One of my resolutions for the new year was to read all the books I've bought but have never finished. So far, it's not going too badly; I've finished Kafka's The Trial and am on the last chapter of a book about the making of A Love Supreme. In a demented quest to read "real books" I have also started War and Peace – possibly not a great idea given that I have so many other books to finish... ah well. I guess Plato can wait.
Benedict, Plato is actually pretty easy to read. Easier than War and Peace that's for sure. Not to sound like an arrogant ass but I read Plato's Phaedo, Crito, and Apology when I was 14. Really an easy read.
I have the same affliction and I feel guilty for it. I too watch my wife go through book after book. One day she tells me that she doesn't really read them thoroughly, she just skims for information.
My significant better half has the same gene your significant other half does AND our eleven year old daughter has it too. A couple trips a week to the book store and they're all set. Each of them can easily plough through, and thoroughly enjoy, two - four books a week. Give me a book and I'm out like a light. Doesn't matter what the subject is I slip into the arms of Morpheus. I really hate that. I really, really do. Gotta find a solution. Maybe I should get my eyes checked?
Anyone know of any research on what makes a good reader?
I suffer from this same malady. It's the smell of printer's ink on paper that is so enticing. And I remember the first time I noticed its effect on me. In the fourth grade we were rewarded for good reading habits by being able to pick books of our own from a book club. When my first book arrived (Charlotte's Web) I stuck my nose in the pages. From then on I was hooked.
I just finished the The Polysyllabic Spree and loved it. Loved it. Any book that validates my love of books and hocks me up with several new books is my kind of book.
Interesting, I'm the complete opposite with my book reading. I don't buy books very often, but when I do buy one all I do is read and read until it's done. Can't get enough of the crack once I jump in.
I couldn't stand to have several unfinished books laying around, let alone even one. Must be an O.C.D. thing.
I, too, suffer from Recurrent Essay Accumulation Disorder (READ). The local Barnes&Nobles is but a second home to me – and with Starbucks built right in, it is a wonder they even have closing hours.
I am currently trying to digest about 3 books on my shelf: The Outsiders, Watership Down and The Time Traveler's Wife. I am not even halfway through any of the three.
I once made a resolution to read at least 25% of my current library… unfortunately, I keep adding books to it.
Yeah, I got a book habit. Whaddaya gonna do about it? lol Glad to know I'm not the only one.
And Randy Peterman: #3 is awesome! hahaha
I am reading Digital Fortress by Dan Brown at the moment. It's too addictive, I couldn't put it down last night!
PS: You have a typo: it's Hornby instead of Hornsby.
One day she tells me that she doesn't really read them thoroughly, she just skims for information.
Ha! My lovely wife said the same thing to me once but then I don't get how any one can grasp the details of a story by skimming. Maybe when it comes to reading books the secret is to run past the roses.
I mean, who's bright idea was it to invent reading and laying on a couch or in bed? Dammit man, that's just a recipe for sleep if ever I've come across one.
I hear ya. I read all my books at a desk because I am lights out in 5 minutes when I try to read in bed. This is always greeted poorly by my wife who wants to be together while we read. I don't get that. Maybe too many episodes of the Brady Bunch.
I used to be really good at finishing books... I think working at a bookstore changed that. I was exposed to a lot of great books, and the prices meant I BOUGHT a lot of really great books. (I'm a sucker for buying a well-designed book even if I don't really end up liking it.)
I cannot for the life of me finish an Umberto Eco book. I'm like 3 chapters away from the end of Baudolino, and I've simply lost interest. I didn't even get CLOSE to finishing Name of the Rose or the Island of the Day Before. (For what it's worth, I enjoyed most of Baudolino.)
I think the key is to not read a book 30 minutes at a time. I simply find that I don't have time to sit down and read until I fall asleep anymore. As a result, I read a book over several lunch breaks. The stilted stop and go mixed with being distracted by other people coming and going means it's harder to really get into a book. Sometimes I daydream at work about how nice it will be to go home, brew a pot of coffee, and just READ for the entire evening, but for some reason, this almost never happens, even when I say to myself it will.
Of course, I now have a fiancee, digital cable, high-speed internet, a gamecube and countless OTHER distractions, but I really miss the days of "reading time." I've always thought that book-club might help, but I'm leery of reading a book that I've been ordered to read. I think I would need a very particular KIND of bookclub.
And, as I was typing, it struck me... I've never seen any sort of blog dedicated to the discussion of books in realtime. Something of an online book club. The owner of the blog could solicit ideas for a book, and once a consensus is reached could start the conversation on a daily basis about a particular chapter. Comments would be open for discussion, of course. This way, it would be fairly easy to do a book a month, and the blog format would certainly invoke a great discussion.
There are, of course, a million ways that one could work this. There could even be a site administered by 3 or 4 people... that way several choices would be available for differing tastes in books...
I too, have the "book itch" (you have to scratch it at least once a week...). However, I have no idea how someone can fall asleep reading a book! I read every night on my bed, and I've never fallen asleep reading.
I used to have the same "prolem" with video games. I would just buy any game that was on my internal must have list no matter what. I still have *short* stacks of unplayed or unfinished games.
The cure? World of Warcraft. That and almost no games of note are due in the next few months.
Thanks for this article Greg. Just what I needed... another reason to purchase more books I'll never finish. Thanks!
Since first reading WORM this morning and my daily running around I just *had to* drop in to the local Chapters store (i mean i was driving right by the bloody thing anyway) and purchase two new books. "The Hydrogen Economy" and "From Lascaux to Brooklyn". They look interesting. I hope I finish 'em ; )
In Real Simple magazine they suggested forming a book club with friends with the same taste in literature. Everyone starts with 3 books. At the end of the month they mail their 3 books on to the next in the list, with a paragraph of their thoughts on a piece of paper. It ends up costing a lot less than buying the books...you keep in touch with friends all over the country...and it motivates you to keep reading. I haven't tried this but I think it's a great idea.
It sounds cool, except I really like owning books that I like. For this reason, I can't stand going to the Library.
Chris: so far War and Peace has been surprisingly easy going; I've got about a third of the way through since my last post. As a philosophy student, albeit one on a modern analytic philosophy course, I feel Plato (in my case, The Republic) deserves a fairly close read, which as I'm sure you're well aware is pretty demanding no matter how easy to read the book in question is. That said, some philosophers are notoriously opaque; luckily for me, in Plato's day they still taught rhetoric.
Yes, let me add my name to the list of those who buy many more books than I read. I am constantly having to remind myself of all the unread books I have on the shelf at home when I am in a book store. Usually it works, but the fifty or so unread books on my shelves prove that it doesn't even come close to working every time.
oh books, why do you taunt me so? i think this is turning into a reader's anonymous of sorts. we all have the same problem ("hi mike...")
anyhow, the only books that i read in the time i said i would was the entire Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ("a trilogy in four parts...")
Yes i realise that there are now 5 in the trilogy, but i have yet to read the fifth. and damnit if it isn't the funniest thing i've ever read...
still working 3 books as of late (history of the siege of lisbon, the cave, and descartes meditations, zzzzzzzz)
My problem is that I'm a speed reader. If I can't finish a book in four hours, then it must be a terrible read. I do my best reading during a natural disaster (i.e. hurricanes and snowstorms) when I had read three books in two days. Now, I take out an hour on Sundays and if I can only get through less than 60 pages, the book becomes my new coaster. I have to kick that habit soon. I have more coasters than books now.
Brian Ford said: "Of course, I now have a fiancee, digital cable, high-speed internet, a gamecube and countless OTHER distractions, but I really miss the days of "reading time."
Brian, just wait until you have kids.
I love reading in bed. It's better than Excedrin PM for getting to sleep! Of course, the right book helps. I love SciFi for total relaxation. Right now I'm reading Chindi and Omega by Jack McDevitt. And I'm sleeping really well!
I too "try" to read too much, but I extend the problem into everything I do. Too many computer games half finished, too many movies unwatched sitting on an ever growing bookshelf. I seem to have books with good intentions (to better yourself etc) then a book with Wizards or robots who hunt genetic monkeys comes along and the brain books fall away.
Like Jeff said the Gamecube has allot to answer for.
Oh, I can relate. My wife is horrified when she spies a glossy bookmark peeking out between some fresh pressed tome. I love the smell of new pages. I will read them all, I tell myself...someday.
I have never been one for book monogamy. I have always been more of a dip-my-toe-in-the-water kind of reader. As fickle as it sounds, if the first few chapters do not amuse or arouse I am on to the next tall, dark and rich book. Ah the frivolity & fickle nature of the female reader!
Yeah, I suspect that when I have kids, I'll be forced to put up a blog and bore the rest of the world with daily updates about why the things I'M going through are different than the things everyone else goes through as a new parent. The good news is that if I write endearingly enough, my readers will go along with anything I do to or say about my child as touchingly honest.
Where will I find time to read then?
;)
You are not alone. Over the years, having developed an interest for shorter and sharper prose, I drifted awat from lengthy tomes. But still haven't gotten over buying them.
Brian Ford and everyone: As it happens, I have just launched a new blog at which, among other things, books will be read by a group of people who comment. I'm calling it Good For You, and the mechanics will be made up as we go along. (The "posts" will be bare chapter numbers, and I will comment along with everybody else.) Rather ambitiously, we're beginning with the last three novels of Henry James, The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dover, and The Golden Bowl. Nobody has ever called these easy reads, but I'm hopeful that the project will work nicely.
I guess the majority of the zillions of books I own are 80% read.
I get 80% through them, then stop. I suddenly get interested in another book, then read that one 80%. I wish I could buy only 80% of a book, at a 20% discount.
That's why I invented Science Fiction Micro Stories, tales to tingle at only several paragraphs in length.
http://www.cosmosblogmos.blogspot.com
It's a micro web site, only about 12 stories, but fast to read.