Some people read a book once and are done with it, just as they are with movies or television shows. I am not that person. The pleasures of re-reading are manifold for me: the joy of knowing what’s going to happen and to relax when characters are in a tough place; the ability to skip past subplots or characters that don’t interest me, without guilt or fear that I’ll miss something; the chance to find a sudden sunlight sparkling like sea glass on a bit of foreshadowing I’d not seen the first time; the delight in certain characters’ speech and mannerisms. One of the authors I enjoy revisiting is Georgette Heyer, my go-to for romance set in the Regency-era (roughly the same time as the Brontës and Jane Austen). Heyer’s accuracy in language and social mores is unparalleled. Unlike contemporary Regency romance writers, Heyer doesn’t elaborate on sex scenes, but nobody does dialogue better, complete with slang of the early 1800s. (We’ve lost a lot of good words, friends.) I’m currently re-reading Regency Buck and recently dropped back into Cotillion. What's your reading pleasure--reading once and moving on, or re-reading old favorites?
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"Cataracts and cataracts coming off the press every day, duckies. Pick any field you like—you’ll never catch up.” I read that quotation about the publishing world by a professor decades ago, in an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education. Given our limited amount of time for reading, and the number of books published annually (one recent estimate puts the figure at 500,000 to 1 million, not counting self-published books), what is a reader to do? The quotation sent me further down the road I’d begun of not finishing books if I didn’t want to. I was no longer in academe, no longer trying to impress others and myself by the quantity and quality of the books on my shelf. Enter DNF—did not (or do not) finish. I generally don’t reach the stage of throwing a book across the room, but if I’m not enjoying a book, I let it go. Everyone has breaking points. Here’s partial list of my peeves: deckle-edged paper; sloppy copyediting (if a person is carrying on despite difficulties, she’s a trouper, not a trooper); false advertising on the cover or book blurb; excessive (and unimaginative) profanity or crude language; a majority of the text in e-mails, texts, or letters, especially if they are set in bold-faced or italic type; characters being mean; ugly book covers. All reasons for DNF. What are yours? This readable account by Scott Korb relies on works by scholars and, yes, has footnotes, but the footnotes are sometimes just amusing. For example, referencing Ezekiel’s description of the throne place inside the Holy of Holies in the Temple, he calls it “the place of the soles of God’s feet.” The footnote says God wore exactly a size 20 cubits. Although Korb repeatedly says this is not a book about Jesus, Jesus does come up now and again. His chapters deal with money, home, food, baths, health, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, religion, war, and death. In them I learned more than I wanted to know about King Herod the Great, btw. For anyone interested in a more complete understanding of the world Jesus and his contemporaries inhabited, this is a good choice. I think New Year's resolutions are unlikely to be kept very long. But if you've perhaps set an intention to read more in 2023 (or for the rest of your life), I offer this librarian's suggestion.
Read through the Dewey Decimal System. If you’d like to broaden your reading without being obnoxious about it, I recommend this system, which I began using several years ago. I want/need the nudge to read something that doesn’t look like a novel, though I still read novels. Here’s how it works: Every month, select a book from one of Dewey’s ten divisions, 000-999. For the extra two months, I read biography or memoir; public libraries often put these in a separate section, labeled B or BIO, without a call number. This is simple if you still go to physical libraries, where nonfiction books are on the shelves in Dewey order. If all else fails, call a librarian and ask for their recommendation. I think it's a fairly painless way to read 12 books I might not otherwise have found. And there's always something interesting and accessible, even in the science fields in which I generally struggle. I’m a big fan of browsing, so I’d say go to the place your taxes support. I usually choose a branch library to automatically narrow my choices. And just for fun, if you want Dewey explained in rap, go to this YouTube kid-friendly source from Chenoweth Elementary School. In less than four minutes, their puppets will give you confidence to play librarian. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmhD8uemi_A&t=16s |
What I’m ReadingI began working in libraries as a seventh grader, courtesy of scoliosis. My orthopedic surgeon wrote me a pass to miss gym class, so I began working in the school library to feed my love of reading. Even after my surgery to correct the curvature, I kept getting out of gym to work in my high school library and then in my college library (for pay, at last!).
So began my eventual career as a college reference librarian—after a detour into teaching high school English. Later I worked for an educational publisher before going back to libraries.
I have a reading and writing life now. I devour both fiction and nonfiction, and will tell you about some of my favorite reads, both old friends and new discoveries.
Here's some library-themed music to get you in the mood.
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