My recent obsession is to spy on other people’s reading habits on the commuter train. On my way to work I first take a bus, then a tram, and then another bus. My way home is timed so that I can catch an express train, ond only have to take one bus afterwards.
Despite the amount of cellphones, tablets and ebook readers we see every day, I constantly notice how many people still read actual books on the commute. And not just small pocket books. Some carry big, large tomes around with them.
I have too many books.
I have whole walls covered with floor-to-ceiling shelving filled with books. I have stacks of books occupying my desk, side-tables, dressers, windowsills, kitchen counters and sideboard. There are books on my washing machine and on the floor.
I need to get rid of some of these!
However, I hate having to put them in the recycling bins. Firstly, I paid money for them. Secondly, someone else might want them. And I hate the whole notion that books are ‘rubbish’.
So I tried to come up with a few ways to reduce my book piles responsibly.
I was bored the other day, and was looking for some new things to read.
My bookclub seems to be revolving around the same handful of books at the moment, and I wanted some fresh inspriation, so I played author bingo.
This was my card:
A while ago I decided my bookshelves need re-organizing. They used to be more or less in order (separate shelves for mystery, fantasy, gardening, and so on), but since the last time I moved house a lot of books have just been shoved into random shelves. SciFi next to non-fiction, French next to English, Aaronovitch next to Young – you get the picture.
As I pushed books around the shelves, I came across a paperback I had bought a while ago but hadn’t gotten round to read. And then another one. And another one. Turns out I’m pretty much good for the rest of the year when it comes to reading material. After scouring my entire house for books I have not yet read, this is my current To-Be-Read pile:
I’m reading Gardens of the Moon, the first book in the Malazan series, as a group read with my book club on goodreads.com.
This is the first time I’m participating in a group reading, and it’s definitely different from reading on my own. I read differently, more observant. After the first few chapters I got up and got myself some paper and a pen to scribble down notes and questions to discuss with my fellow readers. And their input during the discussion after the sections was very interesting. Details that completely escaped me during reading, and other things that I noticed but they didn’t – it’s a pretty cool process.
I did not like the first part of the book much (Pale), and it was a bit of a slog. But in the second part (Darujhistan) it picked up for me and got interesting.
