The Sunday Salon: Reading
May
'08
This may come as a surprise, but at work at my bookstore I have to shelve books. Often I come across absolutely ridiculous tag lines (like Danielle Steele’s “Everybody reads Danielle Steele!”) for authors, but it struck me the other day how sad some of these actually are. For example, “If you read only one book this year, read [this one].” What is with that? They don’t care if you read others, just as long as you read that one. (The book I saw this on was 1,400+ pages long, so I highly doubt that anyone who is only reading one book this year is going to choose that one over something shorter, simpler, and more likely to be discussed by their friends. On the other hand, it would take some people a whole year to read that book if they picked it up because they’re so unused to reading that they get distracted and comprehend the words slowly.)
At the beginning of this year I noticed around book blogs and news websites that people were interested in how much time the average American spent reading last year, and how many books they read. It was a story consisting of other life factors that kept one from reading, interviews with people who said they don’t understand why people read for pleasure, and comments from people who said that reading websites and magazines is just as fruitful as reading a book.
Take the books that you have read this year - ones you started on or after January 1, 2008 - and tell me which of those books, so far, would be your “one read” for the year. If I went back in time and took all those other books away, adding life stresses and distractions so that you wouldn’t have time for them, which one book would you like for me to leave for you so you could say you’d read one book this year? Did you have to look through your list of books read, weigh the pros and cons of each, then finally decide that I’d have to randomly select for you? I wouldn’t be able to pick just one book from my list; I have gained and learned so much from each, even if I didn’t particularly like one or two of them. They are part of me now, just as every other book I read this year will be.
Somewhere in between here and Tennessee, Louisiana, or Ohio, I found an article called “Reading is Dangerous” by Anthony Doerr contained in the February issue of Spirit. This is one of those complementary magazines you find with SkyMall so you can kill time while you’re on a long flight with no peanuts to sustain you. The article doesn’t go into much detail on why we don’t read, rather why we do read – why it’s valuable. It throws out some statistics, and then ends with the magic of reading. (Consequently, it mentions TV, video games, and Paris Hilton as reasons why we don’t read books, but not magazines.) It’s an interesting introduction to the issue, but I was disappointed that it banks more on teaching kids to enjoy books. Yes, this is very important, and I hope some day to raise a reader, but what about the kids from 20 years ago who didn’t have booklovers to tell them how much fun reading can be?
My mom reads about 80 books each month, give or take a few. I can’t tease her for it because she’s reading what she enjoys – trashy romance, quick mysteries, and “lame” fiction. (We have a bookstore in this area that labels the stuff she reads as “lame fiction,” but you’ll see “Romantic Suspense” on the binding.) At least she’s passing her time reading.
So I don’t recommend Twilight of the Superheroes as the only book you read this year, if you’re going to read just one. It’s true, I find at least one interesting thing about each of the stories, but overall this book has been a bit misleading. Where is Batman crying, beaten up looking across buildings at men apparently doing something sad?
The story “Like It or Not” seemed to be titled just appropriately for me. I didn’t seem to get it completely – the relationships eluded me, some until the end and some still do. A woman’s husband (or… ex husband?) is dying, and though he left her for an electrician whom she became close with, she seems conflicted on what to think about it. Their kids are upset, asking her personal questions about the nature of their relationship – Mom, what would make Dad leave you for a guy? What happened between you two? But then there’s this other character, Harry, and I’m not sure what his role in all this is but she seems incredibly awkward around him, not sure what her place is or what she should be doing. She’s clearly annoyed by his love of history, museums, facts, ancient ideas, and antiques, but she accompanies him anyway on a trip towards his family’s farm house, which he wishes he could sell but can’t bring himself to throw away treasured memories.
I somewhat began to understand the theme of this collection and why it was called Twilight of the Superheroes until I read this story. It doesn’t seem to fit, but I suppose I’ll see it come together in the end. I’m not sure I liked it.
I can’t bring myself to recommend just one book. I look through my read books in 2008 and I want to tell you not to miss any of the Haruki Murakami, especially Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World; make sure you read Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Susan Nagel’s Marie-Therese, Child of Terror, and How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard also, because I found those to be thought-provoking or beneficial to my intellect in some way. I haven’t even finished I Sing the Body Electric! by Ray Bradbury, but already it’s moving up to a default recommendation.
So this week I finished George MacDonald’s Complete Fairy Tales, finally, and as I just mentioned mere seconds ago, I’ve started a Ray Bradbury collection. I’ve also been eyeing my copy of New Moon by Stephanie Meyer because I know it will go quickly… I also signed up for Daily Lit which will send me bits of Pride and Prejudice three days every week. Not sure how I feel about it yet, but I suppose that whenever I finish the book I’ll let you know about my experience. In the mean time, I’m working on some art projects that are keeping my eyes away from books. However, I’ve found that the best way to pass the time while paint dries is to read. Maybe if people painted more often, they’d read more than one book in a year.
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I have a horrible time with choosing one favorite anything - but with books it’s completely impossible. I just registered for the Book Blogs group, and the first question on the profile page is “What’s your favorite book?” I considered not joining - after all, shouldn’t a group dedicated to readers and book lovers know this is a ridiculous question to ask?
In the end I just entered my stock answer to this question…”How can I possibly pick just one!?”
May
'08
I ran into the same problem. There are a handful of books that have stuck out for me in my life, and I just picked one at random. I’m one of those people that can’t understand how someone could life a fulfilling life without reading for pleasure. If all my books were taken away, I think I’d go crazy. Sure I watch movies, watch a little TV, but staring at a screen for an hour or two and reading a book are such qualitatively different experiences they really can’t be compared.
May
'08
There is no way I could pick just one book for a year. I’m already trying to figure out what on Earth I’m going to pick as my top read for May - and the book I just picked up tonight is likely to make that choice more difficult.
May
'08
Pick just one book!!!! How in the world would I be able to do that? There is no way. Yeah I could give you a list of books that I think you would like, but I could never give you just one favorite book. I don’t think a book lover could ever give you just one favorite.
May
'08
Update: My mother (another book lover of almost all genres) says that she would say to read “The Flame & the Flower” by Kathleen Woodiwiss. It is a romance, but it isn’t a straight sex one. This one has a wonderful plot to it. Even I recommend it. It is wonderful.
May
'08
I can’t imagine reading only one book in a year. If I had to choose from the list of books I’ve read this year already it would probably be Fear of Flying by Erica Jong simply because it’s the one that has caused me to be the most introspective about my own life.
May
'08
I love your blog! What a beautiful layout!
One book for the year? So hard to pick just one, but probably “The Secret History of Moscow” by Ekaterina Sedia. It’s almost poetic.
May
'08
The problem of recommending just one book is the perfect lead-in to the meme I just tagged you with. Can you choose just one author? Bwahahahaha…
May
'08