The Box

There is a box of books that I haven't yet read. It sits in another room, waiting to get emptier, and for the mysterious packages that come in the mail to replenish its stocks. Sometimes the books therein are good, and sometimes bad, but they are all unknown for now. Massive numbers of short stories sit there, taunting me for my failure to dig in and read them. Oh, curses on all of you short stories! The box will sit there and wait for a while longer, as procrastination and love of the books I already have read wins out.

Is there anything wrong with liking to re-read books? Some people I've known, naming no names, think it's a totally pointless activity and carried a look of disdain about the whole idea. Others delight in having old friends to pick up and devour over and over, word by word. It's a very divisive issue, and there are whole episodes of book podcasts devoted to the topic! Personally, I love re-reading novels, finding that it add a personal connection to the work and to be a very comforting experience. Yes, the joy of reading is to experience ideas and narratives that you haven't come across before, but it's also nice to have something reassuring to hold on to while cooling down for sleep. The box won't contain the same books forever, or so I hope, knowing that some books have been in the 'in progress' piles for a very long time indeed! I'm looking at you, 'Voyage of the Beagle'!

I'm assuming that all of you out there know about LibraryThing, but if you don't and you love to read then you might want to check it out. It's a fascinating website which can be used in any number of ways. I personally am gradually building and rating my book collection record on there so as to get some more book recommendations on where to go next. It has already been a major success in pushing 'Bridge of Birds' by Barry Hughart into my life, and has prompted some investigation into 'Groucho Marx, Master Detective' and 'Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat'. The depths of fiction and non-fiction are amazing, and there to be plumbed. It's just sad that the only way to read most unusual books is to buy them in, the libraries not being rich in anything but the most contemporary editions or populist classics. Oh, to be able to make libraries eclectic again, in that strange parallel dimension where services actually make sense!

Anyway, to avert the incipient rant on libraries, please consider Library Thing as a useful resource. It also has a social aspect, and has extended to include DVDs and CDs. People in the relevant areas can even get in on the free book programme and review releases early at no cost! That could be a good thing for the more omnivorous readers amongst you, who aren't quite so tame as myself. Now, perhaps it's time to get back to ignoring that box and re-reading some 'Star Trek'. Yes, it's time for 'Dreadnought!', 'Ishmael', and then 'Battlestations!'. Let's have the work going on in the subconscious for a while.

O.