To Be Read

Gosh, I wish the world weren’t so darn interesting!  Just today I discovered an incredible resource for Celtic literature, some of it translated from Irish, Latin, French, and other languages. Oh, I’m not going to tell you what is because this is not really the topic I want to discuss. It is just another symptom…

A week ago I read an article by John Warner as The Biblioracle. Mr. Warner confessed to owning more than 75 books he had not yet read, “a good 13-month backlog if I were to not buy a single book until I cleared it…”  The chances of Mr. Warner, or my, not buying any books until our backlog was cleared are slim to none!

The Oracle discussed the reasons why he always has a backlog.  He lists books that “should have been read by now” which are often from the classics or from literary masters. He includes books that the publishing world is talking and writing about as well as freebies, gift books, and intellectual self-improvement titles. Mr. Warner claims some books as “contingency” titles that he might need sometime in the future. Finally he includes spiritual classics whatever those might be. To him the to be read (TBR) “pile is a statement of hope, of best intentions.”  Ahem, and we all know which road best intentions pave.

The Biblioracle’s predicament is my own, and hopefully many of yours too.  His column prompted me to think about my TBRs which, I must confess, outnumber his.  I cannot conceive of living in a space without books. His column prompted me to mentally compartmentalize my own TBR hoard.  I attempt to justify my Contingency Reading Cache because 1) I’m a librarian who needs to be around books; 2) I view books somewhat differently from the average reader—I use them differently—which means I may not want to read the entire book but may need it for references purposes; 3) I have a great many diverse research interests which demand continuous replenishment. Like the squirrel storing up nuts for the winter, I cache TBRs that might fulfill future needs as well as anticipated pleasures.  I would starve to death intellectually in a winter of booklessness.

Like Mr. Warner I Duty Reads, those books I should have read. Although my sense of “duty” has changed somewhat now that I do not work regularly I still feel that I have a responsibility to read genre outside my comfort zone. William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition is an example. Because I have a very large research collection on Irish and Celtic culture, I feel there should be some books by and about Italians and Italian-Americans. Blood Washes Blood by Frank Viviano and Tony Romano’s If You Eat, You Never Die await my attention. Literary books are expected to be read in the library world prompting me to stock up on Jorge Luis Borges and similar authors. I have yet to finish all of Euripides’ Plays, or Essays of the Masters. Best sellers do not prick my conscience anymore, although at one time I did struggle and snicker through Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. Also included in the “Duty” category are books for book discussions I will lead. I’ve gotten myself into another discussion for November, Mary Doria Russell’s Doc. That book is my next read, I promise.

There are a number of books I have purchased as a result of author appearances, usually autographed. A major source of these is the yearly IBAM (Irish Books, Art, and Music) fest at the Chicago Irish American Heritage Center. Still awaiting my attention are books by Anna McPartlin, Frank Delaney, and something written by a distant cousin of my husband.  The local bookstore lured me in to hear Frances McNamara and to purchase three of her mysteries. I really HAD to go to hear what one of the librarians at my alma mater, University of Chicago, had to say about her mysteries. One down and two more to go…

I don’t get many freebies but once a year I may receive a birthday book from my son and his family. It gives me great pleasure to have my ultra-liberal son and daughter-in-law purchase a Ronald Reagan biography, books by William F. Buckley, Jr. and titles in the math field—my son’s least favorite subject. Schadenfreude is alive and well in December!

The Just in Case pile contains all three volumes of Frederick Coplestone’s History of Philosophy, Charles Freeman’s Egypt, Greece, and Rome, The Trivium by Sister Miriam Joseph, and a beautiful book on chemistry, The Elements by Theodore Gray. These titles fit nicely with Intellectual Self-Improvement materials like The Essential Russell Kirk and the Atlantic Monthly’s American Idea.  I think I must give up on reading George Santayana, but I burn the candle of good intentions for José Ortega y Gasset and Claude Levi-Strauss.

Books that hold high interest because of my research preferences include the one’s I mentioned that I have just ordered that include Celtic from the West by scholars Barry Cunliffe and John T. Koch who suggest a new cultural model for post-Iron Age Gaelic peoples.  Jack Weatherford’s The Secret History of the Mongol Queens promises to revive an old interest in Genghis Khan that began with James Chambers’ wonderful The Devil’s Horsemen. Whenever I pass it my gaze turns lovingly to Samuel Noah Kramer’s The Sumerians: Their History, Culture and Character. Ancient history and language are interests that have languished too long.

Active research and interest areas include the history of science and mathematics. I just purchased Professor Stewart’s Hoard of Mathematical Treasures by a favorite, Ian Stewart. The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made in World Modern by Keith Devlin promises to be a challenging and interesting read.  I have learned so much from G. E. R. Lloyd’s Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle and Greek Science after Aristotle. More recently John Freely opened my eyes to the accomplishments of Arabic Science when I read Aladdin’s Lamp. Since then I can’t get enough on the topic. I have begun, but have temporarily interrupted, the reading of the marvelous The House of Wisdom by Jim Al Khalili. After this book I have Ehsan Masood’s Science and Islam: a History to add to my list.  Learning more about the history of science has become a labor of love. If only I remembered my Latin and French and could learn classical Greek and Arabic I’d be enrolled in a master’s program on this topic.

All work and no play would make Ettsme a very dull girl.  I love mysteries—mostly English and/or historical.  There are two boxes of mysteries to tempt me. I do save some of the paperbacks to take to California in the winter, but there are plenty others to go around.  The “problem” is that when I like what an author has written, I want to read all of his/her ouvre. Peter Tremayne’s latest Sister Fidelma mysteries arrive directly from England as soon as they go into paperback. I have almost every Appleby title by Michael Innes and the complete run of  Edmund Crispin’s Gervaise Fen books. I’m halfway through Michael Pearce’s A Dead Man in_____ series. I am working my way through Christopher Fowler’s Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery series.  My favorite so far is The Water Room while The Victoria Vanishes awaits. There is nothing more relaxing than a good murder!

The Biblioracle’s dilemma speaks to many of us.  John Warner closes his piece with a quote by Franz Kafka:  “A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.”  He describes the TBR book piles as “a whole bunch of axes behind glass, waiting to be broken in case of a soul emergency.”  I don’t see much point in hiding these treasures behind glass.  Their presence and lure are an Epicurean pleasure.  They are my hope, limited but unbounded. Do you have some reading to catch up on?