My book obsession has a good side for all those unread books
I buy books. It’s what I do. Of all my compulsions, the one to buy books has been the longest lasting one that I have no real control over. If I go into a bookstore for any reason, I always end up leaving with a book. In fact, if I know that I am down to about two or three unread books, I start to get a little antsy. I need to replenish my stock so that I can have choices and that I never run out of books to read.
I always have every intention of reading all of the books that I buy. I am interested in the topics. They look like good reads. It’s an author I am vested in or someone I know. Get me to one of those Salt Lake City Public Library events (in April and October) where books become tremendously cheap by the end of the week, and I am a goner. I am able to keep my budget as long as it is more than zero books; that may be my only saving grace.
The problem, though, isn’t that I buy books. It is that I will never get to read all of the books that are currently sitting on my shelf unread. I have so many books right now that if I stopped buying books and started reading full time, it would probably take me about two years to read them all. I have books that I haven’t read on two different continents – some are stored at my mom’s house in the U.S. and some I brought with me to Malta. I thought I was going to read them, and I did read some, but I also bought more.
The good news is that there is a definite use for all of those books that I haven’t read. According to this well-written if a little pedantic article, the books that I haven’t read are actually more important than the ones that I have read. They have a couple of purposes:
They remind me of what I do not know. There are many things that I do know; however, there are an infinite number of things that I do not know. Rather than focusing on what I know, I look at what I do not know and question what I think I know. Unread books help me to do that.
They serve as a research library. I don’t necessarily need to research the information that I have already read in those books that I have consumed. I already know it. The books that I have not read are filled with useful information that I could take as a whole or research piecemeal depending on my needs.
Having a library of everything you haven’t read would require a great amount of space and money. It is enough to have enough books that you haven’t read to remind yourself that there is always something more to learn, something more to experience and something more to read.
I always have every intention of reading all of the books that I buy. I am interested in the topics. They look like good reads. It’s an author I am vested in or someone I know. Get me to one of those Salt Lake City Public Library events (in April and October) where books become tremendously cheap by the end of the week, and I am a goner. I am able to keep my budget as long as it is more than zero books; that may be my only saving grace.
The problem, though, isn’t that I buy books. It is that I will never get to read all of the books that are currently sitting on my shelf unread. I have so many books right now that if I stopped buying books and started reading full time, it would probably take me about two years to read them all. I have books that I haven’t read on two different continents – some are stored at my mom’s house in the U.S. and some I brought with me to Malta. I thought I was going to read them, and I did read some, but I also bought more.
The good news is that there is a definite use for all of those books that I haven’t read. According to this well-written if a little pedantic article, the books that I haven’t read are actually more important than the ones that I have read. They have a couple of purposes:
They remind me of what I do not know. There are many things that I do know; however, there are an infinite number of things that I do not know. Rather than focusing on what I know, I look at what I do not know and question what I think I know. Unread books help me to do that.
They serve as a research library. I don’t necessarily need to research the information that I have already read in those books that I have consumed. I already know it. The books that I have not read are filled with useful information that I could take as a whole or research piecemeal depending on my needs.
Having a library of everything you haven’t read would require a great amount of space and money. It is enough to have enough books that you haven’t read to remind yourself that there is always something more to learn, something more to experience and something more to read.
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Review of Colorworld by Rachel E. Kelly
Read my interview with Kelly about writing Read Rachel E. Kelly talks 'Colorworld' Read the Top 6 quotes from 'Colorworld Read reviews on examiner.com |