Yay for nightstands and the towering stacks of books they tend to hold. Whenever I reach November I get a bit anxious as I look at the many books I meant to read during the year that I haven’t gotten to yet. I always seem to have at least twenty that I want to read before the new year begins and hitting November reminds me that there’s no way I’ll get to all of them.
I know there’s always next year, but there’s always more books too. This year I really wanted to read Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night, Marquez’ One Hundred Years of Solitude, Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore, Allende’s The House of the Spirits, and a few others. I made it through some wonderful books so far in 2010, but I haven’t quite hit everything I wanted to.
I’ve found that book blogging adds to the problem, in a good way. I’m always reading about more great books that I want to read and the list continues to grow. My poor nightstand is going to crumble under the weight of the books I pile on it. It’s reassuring to know I won’t run out of reading material anytime soon, but it’s also daunting. I once heard someone say, you haven’t hit middle-age until you realize you won’t be able to read all the books you want to in your lifetime. At 26, I’m definitely not there yet, but I’m dreading the day when I come to that conclusion. Did you guys get through the books you wanted to read this year?
14 comments:
I have 79 books on my TBR list :( and my nightstand is crumbling!
So far I am right on schedule. I must admit that there were only a handful of actual titles I wanted to read this year. The rest are challenge books conforming to some particular criteria, like length, how long they have been on my TBR list, and so on.
My night"stand", incidentally, is an Ikea Billy bookcase with a height extension, double stacked with something like 4-500 TBR paperbacks. I emptied out one of the shelves to hold my alarm clock and the books I am reading or planning to read soon.
My nightstand has a nasty stain from spilled nail polish remover, so a stack of some TBR books covers that up nicely :D I'm going to post a bookshelf tour video soon, so stay tuned.
There are quite a few books that I still want to get through, and I just don't know if its going to happen or not. There is always next year, but how many "next years" do I have left? ;)
I have to admit that the down side of blogging for me has to be that I have read less books so far this year, than any other year for a long time. The question is how to find the balance?
I completely get that November anxiety. We're the same age, so I imagine that my realisation that I'll never read everything I want to will deepen as the years pass, butt even now I try to think of it in terms of the infinite possibilities it offers.
I wanted to get to Tender is the Night as well, but there's always next year, right?
Not by a long shot, no. There are still SO many left. I completely agree with you. You read about all these great books that you just can't help digressing from your original list. I have sort of giving up trying to find any sort of balance. So I decided not to have a list or a plan at all. I will go with the flow. There is absolutely nothing else to do because one of these days I will run out of walking space in my room. Good luck with all the reading and I hope the New Year gives you a lot of joy reading :)
Bibliophile - I envy your nightstand! I have a couple floating bookshelves above mine, but it's not a bookcase.
Allie - That's how I feel. I don't want to put off reading something, because who knows if I'll have a chance to get to it.
LindyLouMac - I still don't think I've found the balance. I think I need to stop reading books just because everyone else is talking about them and try to get to some of the ones I know I want to read. It's hard to resist the hype though.
Teacher/Learner - I'll be interested to see that!
Nymeth - Maybe we'll do a Tender is the Night read-along next year.
Vaishnavi - I think that's a good way to look at it.
Tender is the Night is on my nightstand, too! It's developing quite a layer of dust, unfortunately.
I'm with you. I just realized that I won't be able to get to so many of the books I had hoped to read this year. 2011, here we come!
But I'm sorry to say I'm going to add more pressure for you - you should read Kafka on the Shore first in 2011! I love it!
I agree with you that the list is ever increasing thanks to blogging. All those you've mentioned on your table are amongst some of my favourites and I just know you'll love them. I only keep the book I'm reading at the time on my bedside table (what we call them here in Australia) but I have about 6 or 7 books I wanted to get to but haven't. I am nowhere near as prolific a reader as I used to be unfortunately. Just not enough hours in the day. I also meant to thank you for your recommendations via my blog too. I shall keep my eye out for them. Happy weekend. x
Charley - Maybe I should host a Tender is the Night read-along. I've never hosted one, but that could be a good book to start with.
Captain and Cat - Ok, obviously I need to get to the ones on my list. It's encouraging to know that they'll be worth the wait when I do get to them.
I always make grand plans that fall flat when I get distracted by all the books that other bloggers make me want to read. But it is a good problem to have ... and the quality of my reading has definitely improved since I started reading book blogs.
I have so many on my nightstand, my office, and under my nightstand...! Don't know when I'll get to them all either!
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