"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?
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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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