The idea, as well as the name for it, started here.
It hardly needs saying that Neil Gaiman is a genius. “Shelfie” is a marvelous and meaningful word. Here is a shelfie of the built-in bookcase in my living room, along with my share of the not built-in bookcase in the living room, followed by the stacks of books I received for Christmas.
Trust me, there’s a reason for all the pictures.
In middle school and much of high school, I read a book a day. Mostly books of a mere 300 pages, yes, but a book a day most days. Writing was for when I could have solitude. Out in the world, reading was my haven and my joy. I’ve spoken elsewhere about the glories of librarians. Believe me, keeping this girl in books was no easy job!
Over the years, though, I’ve slipped. I’ve always been a firm believer in the maxim that if you want to write, you have to read, but I’ve found reading makes it far too easy to procrastinate. Whenever I don’t want to write, it’s so awfully incredibly easy to wander into someone else’s world instead. So with the best of intentions, I set the books aside. I’d read an awful lot of them–I could stand to spend some time not reading.
Perhaps predictably, I never stopped buying books. Didn’t stop collecting them, though moving into this tiny apartment made me cull my stash. Books on writing didn’t count under the ban, so I bought lots of those. And sometimes I just needed to read a dang book, so I did. But never anything close to what I used to do.
But you know what? I’m tired of that. I don’t think I can get away with reading a book a day again unless I someday manage to retire, but that doesn’t mean I can’t read at all. I think I’ll start with…all the books I own. Yes, and the books I have out from the library too (never stopped checking books out either, though I rarely read them…) Some of the books I’ve read before. Many of them I haven’t. Some don’t have a lot of words in them (Bleach artbook.) Some of them…holy cats. (Wheel of Time, Deathly Hallows.) But I’m going to read them. All of them EXCEPT the cookbooks and the encyclopedia of houseplants.
I’m going to do it, and you all are going to keep me on track, I hope. Look for a post a week or thereabouts on what I’m reading now. And poke me if you don’t get that post, please!
Pingback: A Few Thoughts | Escapist Literature