So Many Books, So Little Time
Authors: Dickison Stephanie 
Published: October 2020

As a writer, researcher and avid book reader, I am drawn to books about books. But ever-so tentatively, as I know they can only mean one thing—more titles in which to add to my ever-growing list of books that I must have, that I must read, and that I will eventually feel compelled to write about.

Recently, I finished So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sara Nelson. Ms. Nelson is a librarian and knows whereof she speaks. She is unequivocal in her broad selection and speaks at length about things that only book munchers like myself know:

“What draws a particular reader to a particular story can be completely idiosyncratic (Note to publishers: Pile on the details in your jacket copy. You never know what will attract someone). Reading is highly personal and often revealing. Readers have superstitious preferences and irrational dislikes. You can be drawn to a book because a character has your mother’s name, for example, or because she has red hair like your beloved third-grade teacher. You can get turned off to a story because the hero looks like the last man who broke your heart.” (115)

And she is not the only librarian to get in on the action. Ms. Pearl wrote Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Moment, Mood and Reason and the just published More Book Lust. There are many other readers that simply could not help writing about books. Gabriel Zaid, for one, who wrote So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance. It seems we just cannot get enough of great book titles, the people who love them, what people are reading and why.

And now, Nick Hornby, British wunderkind, has joined the bookmobile (bandwagon just didn’t seem right) with The Polysyllabic Spree (A Hilarious and True Account of One Man’s Struggle with the Monthly Tide of the Books He’s Bought and the Books He’s Been Meaning to Read). It is, in fact, a collection of his monthly columns for McSweeney’s magazine, The Believer. So while he did write it, he didn’t so much write the book as give the editor his columns and say, “Well, you do whatever it is you do. I’m off for a pint.” So he gets double the credit for the books he read and two sympathetic nods for the ones he didn’t finish (“Poor bloke! He’s got a job and kids. How’s he supposed to read all them books?”).

But don’t be too hard on ol’ Nick. As he said in his impeccable novel and surprisingly great movie, High Fidelity, our books – what we own and what we read – are an extension of ourselves.

And it’s not just books about books anymore. Magazine publishers got into the action with Bookmarks: For Everyone Who Hasn’t Read Everything, Barnes and Noble Presents Book and the British The Good Book Guide, which is simply a book catalogue with short descriptions on each title, with a handy order desk number to allow ordering with ease.

The question is – how to take note of the onslaught of titles each month. Like Hornby, I write down my picks but only for the exclusive audience of one – me. For years now, I have kept a notebook on books to get – either from the library or to purchase for home. I am on Volume Three and quite frankly will need a new one soon. The book is a source of glory and sheer pain for me. On the one hand, I get so excited about titles I’ve just learned about and like Hornby, I can go through periods where I read all about a person or event in schizophrenic ways, flipping from nonfiction to fiction to a play to collections of their letters. The hard part for me is this:

My library, which is the best library in the world – only allows me 50 holds at a time (don’t laugh). And there are many months when I can’t add another title to the list, because the titles I have already entered are still waiting to be brought in by others or even be ordered yet. Then there is the simple fact that I cannot read all the books I have listed. And it’s not that I want to read them all, but I do want the opportunity to at least, to decide whether they’re for me or not. Sigh.

For the last five years, I have recorded all books that I have read and completed. At first I wanted to record those that I merely browsed, skimmed or left altogether, disenchanted by prose or by idea. But I thought that would fill me with a false sense of pride – ten books instead of say, six. So I list only those that I make to the very last page, learning about the history of the type used in the book.

It has been good to see what I’ve read and when. It reminds me of what was going on in my life at certain times. In June of 2000, I read Pico Iyer’s The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls and the Search for Home because I was debating whether to move to Japan or not. I didn’t end up in Japan, but I remain a fan of Iyer’s sensitive writing style and will read anything he ever writes for the rest of my days. In November of 2000, I read Shopgirl by Steve Martin and nothing has been the same since. Steve’s impeccable writing leaves me breathless and wanting more. By September of 2001, with a handful of jobs and a full-time writing career, I had changed my record to include a rating because I couldn’t remember if I’d liked a book or not by simply title or author alone. This led me to give The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll: The Search for Dare Wright ten stars in April 2005 and also resulted in writing a congratulatory letter to the author. Thank God for my list.

Now if I could get someone to pay me to write about it for a column or a book. You know, like whassis name.

At least I have my books to keep me company in the meantime.

References

Books Cited

Hornby, Nick. The Polysyllabic Spree (A Hilarious and True Account of One Man’s Struggle with the Monthly Tide of Books He’s Bought and He’s Been Meaning to Read). McSweeney’s, 2004.
Hornby, Nick. High Fidelity: A Novel. Penguin, 2004.
Iyer, Pico. The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls and the Search for Home. Vintage, 2001.
Martin, Steve. Shopgirl: A Novella. Disney Books: Little Brown, 2005.
Nathan, Jean. The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll: The Search For Dare Wright. Vhps Trade, 2005.
Nelson, Sara. So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading. Berkley Trade, 2004.
Pearl, Nancy, Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Moment, Mood and Reason. Sasquatch Books, 2003.
Pearl, Nancy. More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Moment, Mood and Reason. Sasquatch Books, 2005.
Zaid, Gabriel. So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance. Paul Dry Books, Inc., 2002.

Magazines Cited

Barnes and Noble Presents Book.

Bookmarks: For Everyone Who Hasn’t Read Everything.

The Good Book Guide.

Citation reference for this article

MLA Style

Dickison, Stephanie. "So Many Books, So Little Time." M/C Journal 8.4 (2005). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0508/10-dickison.php>.
APA Style

Dickison, S. (Aug. 2005) "So Many Books, So Little Time," M/C Journal, 8(4). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0508/10-dickison.php>.