It is a sickness.
I have a problem.
The Chicago Public Library allows patrons five held books at any point in time. I have this problem where I need to have all five of those slots filled. I keep filling up my held items. And I keep picking up books from the library. And my stack keeps piling up at home. I have an entire bookshelf for my designated 'To Read' books:
See? I have ALL these books to read. And yet. And yet I continue to request book recommendations and and continue to place books on hold.
I am a book hoarder.
Lately, I have been read hoarding Mary McCarthy's Groves of Academe. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying it...but part of me wants her to go back to writing about women and feminism. Perhaps it is because the communism element tends to date it? But I love it when Doris Lessing tells her communism stories. So that can't be it. Maybe it is because the academic meanderings sound a lot like shenanigans after reading Catch-22? Is Groves of Academe suffering from poor timing?
Meanwhile I have also started Joshua Ferris' Then We Came To End, a hilarious tale of the downfall of an advertising agency which can easily be compared to any advertising/PR/marketing agency and has me crying laughing at the accuracy.
I really can't decide if I should stop putting books on hold or just start reading faster...
"To read without reflecting is to eat without digesting."
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
You have an entire bookcase devoted to your books in queue! That is truly, truly awesome. I should take note and do that rather than piling them precariously on my wee nightstand.
ReplyDeleteI'm due for another trip to the library, after I finish with Wuthering Heights - my GOD, could they all be any more wretched?! What was WRONG with Emily? :)
Jabba - Until this moment, I never thought there was anything other than every day normal about have a bookshelf of books in queue...HAHAHA.
ReplyDeleteI consider Wuthering Heights one of my favorite books of all time. However, I read it when I was in high school and still naive and still romantic. I'm wondering if I read it now if I would be like i HATE THESE PEOPLE WHY ARE THEY SABOTAGING THEMSELVES.
Claire, it's been awhile and I fall behind in checking on your blog. I hope you are well. I'd be interested to hear what you think of Ferris's novel. I enjoyed it, but...
ReplyDeleteWell, I won't prejudge you. But, stop hoarding books. ;)
D - oooo, interesting...or perhaps ominous? I am only 50 pages in...
ReplyDeleteI will say the excessive use of 'we' is getting to me a bit...
My hoarding stems to buying books I don't read. I get all excited at purchase time, but lose steam at reading time. When I moved recently I donated 2 1/2 boxes of books! Seriously, it was like giving up my baby for adoption. Extremely difficult.
ReplyDeleteMy new self plans on using the library from now on. A gf and I plan on having library dates. Checkout some books and eat dins somewhere.
You are part of the problem. The library is understaffed and overwhelmed with holds. Many people don't get what they want for 4 weeks or more. Why don't you lay off the queue for a while.
ReplyDeleteRose in edgewater