NUMBER: 42TITLE: So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading
AUTHOR: Sara Nelson
STARTED: June 4, 2005
FINISHED: June 7, 2005
PAGES: 242
GENRE: Books about Books
FIRST SENTENCE: But enough about me.
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] In early 2002, Sara Nelson - editor, reporter, reviewer, mother, daughter, wife, and compulsive reader - set out to chronicle a year's worth of reading, to explore how the world of books and words intermingled with children, marriage, friends, and the rest of the "real" world. She had a system all set up: fifty-two weeks, fifty-two books...and it all fell apart the first week. That's when she discovered that the books chose her as much as she chose them, and the rewards and frustrations they brought were nothing she could plan for: "In reading, as in life, even if you know what you're doing, you really kind of don't."
From Solzhenitsyn to Laura Zigman, Catherine M. to Captain Underpants, this is the captivating result. It is a personal journey filled with wit, charm, insight, infectious enthusiasm - and observations on everything from Public Books (the ones we pretend we're reading), lending trauma, and the idiosyncrasies of sex scenes ("The mingling of bodies and emotions and fluids is one thing. But reading about it: now, that's personal"), to revenge books, hype, the stresses of recommendation (what does it mean when someone you like hates the book you love?), the odd reasons we pick up a book in the first place, and how to put it down if we don't like it ("The literary equivalent of a bar mitzvah, the moment at which you look at yourself and announce: Today I am an adult").
REASON FOR READING: It's a book... about books.
THOUGHTS: This is the first book I've ever picked up because it received amazing reviews. Those reviews were warranted. As a passionate reader, I found myself identifying with almost every scenario Nelson wrote about. I found myself constantly saying, "I've done that," "I know what you mean," and "Finally, proof that I'm not the only one." Nelson's writing style flows flawlessly and captures the essence of what it means to be a book lover.
MISCELLANEOUS: I wish I had a room that looked like the one on the cover.
KEEP/SHARE/CRINGE(?): Keep forever.
RATING: 9/10 [Excellent! Couldn't put it down]
CR: On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt
RN: Kushiel's Chosen by Jacquelin Carey
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