"Reading one book is like eating one potato chip." Diane Duane
I'm a reader of a variety of genres. From time to time, I post on Facebook for book suggestions or take a suggestion from goodreads.com. The library is my friend, and I giggle a little inside when any of the librarians say, "Hi, Mrs. H! There's a book on the hold shelf for you." Yep, they know me by name. I have even considered greatly the possibility of working in library services once I'm ready to enter the workforce on a consistent basis.
I have two challenges for myself:
1. To read the books I have on my bookshelf.
2. To re-read (or read for the first time) some of the classics.
A little-known fact: my associate's degree is in literature. I started college as an English and secondary education major. After I shifted gears in my education, I completed this degree before moving on. I chose to read and write a lengthy paper on Anna Karenina when I was a junior or senior in high school, which my teacher thought might be a bit insane. A majority of my classes the first couple of years in college were literature-based, including a class entirely on Emily Dickinson. (Loved it!!)
Shockingly, my husband and I share one bookcase. While I love to read, I rarely re-read. Hundreds of books are listed on my "to read" list, so why re-read a book? Again, this is why I love the library! (I also like book trading websites, like bookmooch.com.)
To achieve goal #1, I am making an effort to read one book on my shelf in between every library book I read. Once I read it, I place the book on half.com to sell or on bookmooch.com to trade. The only books I keep have to be special to me or ones that I reference often. For example, I hold onto books like Too Small to Ignore by Dr. Wess Stafford. A couple of pages buried inside this book are often read when I share about Haiti. Another example is my signed copy of Confessions of a Prairie Bitch from when I met Alison Arngrim (Nellie Olson from Little House on the Prairie). Two very opposite books, but again, ones that show my variety of interests.
For goal #2, I pop onto goodreads.com to see what they recommend for me in the genre of "classics" based on my previous reviews. This summer I re-read To Kill a Mockingbird, and I am so glad I did! There was so much I missed as a teenager, and my perspective as a 30-something is so different. A couple of days ago I finished The Color Purple. I definitely don't rank it with Too Kill a Mockingbird, but I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.
Books are an escape, sometimes a guilty pleasure. Rarely do I find them a waste of time.
Hi,Leslie, love this post. We own a lot of books but I'm trying to judiciously cull those so there aren't quite so many. I used to read classics as "bus books" before I retired. I read or re-read a number that way.
ReplyDeleteDid I enjoy all of them? Indeed, that was not the case at all. Some of the ones were Huckleberry Finn, Middlemarch, Robinson Crusoe, Great Expectations and of course, my mind is blanking out on others. You might try Sinclair Lewis. He's always been a great favorite of mine, or some unsung children's classics, like Daddy Long Lets by Jean Webster. Good luck!