Wednesday, February 15, 2006

What I'm Not Reading

As much as I love to buy books, it seems that these days I have less time to actually read them. Here's the current pile of books waiting for my attention:















I don't know how many titles you can make out, but I have a variety of books here, including science fiction/fantasy novels, history books, science books, writing books, Beatle books and magazines, and even a classic (Moby Dick, which I started reading on a trip several years ago and abandoned once I returned home). This doesn't include the book I just put in the bathroom basket or my latest issues of Scientific American and Locus, "the newspaper of the science fiction field."

When I really want to read a book, I can do so very quickly. I bought The Time Traveler's Wife Friday evening while we were in Madison, and I finished it Sunday. I did have some more free time to read this weekend, as I had breakfasts and lunches by myself while Eugene was in lecture. I once read four novels (between 300-400 pages each, I'd say) in twelve hours when I got home from college and needed to unwind. (These were the last four books in Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. He used to be one of my favorite authors, and I was really interested in this series.) So I'm sure I could clear this pile if I 1): stopped buying new books (but wouldn't that cause the collapse of the publishing industry?) and 2): did nothing but read for a couple of months. Unfortunately, neither of these events is likely to happen anytime soon. I can snatch a few minutes to read here and there, but my best time to read is during my morning workout with Eugene when we're on treadmills. It also doesn't help that I subscribe to two monthly and one bimonthly magazine; I end up reading books between magazine issues. At least I have no reason to be bored. I do need to read a little faster before I buy another bookshelf just to hold my unread books.

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