"Books were a shelter and a friend to me when that shelter wasn't available in real life." - Jacqueline Mitchard
I have so many titles on my to-read list (600+) but I don't plan what I will read next. I let the books come to me mostly. Have you ever checked a book out from the library, kept it for three weeks, then returned it unread? That happens to me somewhat frequently. That's me trying to guess what I should read next and getting it wrong. That's when I find myself in a bookish limbo. I don't know what to read next and nothing has jumped out at me. This doesn't mean I'm not reading though. When I am in a bookish limbo, it means I've got a large variety of books on the go all at once. My preferred reading state is when I am reading one or two books wholeheartedly; in a bookish limbo, I enjoy what I read but am not enveloped by it. I prefer to drown in my books, to be so enmeshed in what I am reading that I forget the real world exists. And it's not as though I lack for access to books: I belong to two libraries of vastly different collections and I have 190 books in my personal library (most of which I have not read...yet). So I'm in a bookish limbo waiting for the right 'next book' to come along. Earlier today I was sitting looking at my personal library. I'm waffling over the idea of finding a temporary indication of the books I've read, whether sticker or some sort of mark on the spine. I throw out the idea because I figure I know which ones I've read and which ones I haven't. And then I reinstate the idea because I come across one that I can't remember if I have or not (turns out I have). I don't mind rereading but I wouldn't want to pick up a book thinking I haven't read it, only to discover that I have. Of course, I keep a list on Goodreads, Shelfari, and LibraryThing of what I have read but that's not exactly a quick-access resource if my computer isn't on. Hmm. Yes? No? I'll keep thinking about it.
And now I'll go add some more books to my to-read list.
Read on,
Paula
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