The Book Deluge
I like to read books right when they come out. I stay on top of soon-to-be-published lists and put myself on the holds list at the library as soon as the book is added. I read the book right when I get it so I can be in that first wave of people who consume the book.
Why do I do this? Why does it matter when I read or watch or listen to something?
I mean, yes, spoilers. I hate accidentally hearing or reading spoilers, so getting to a book early lessens the chances of that happening. But lots of books do not have a big reveal therefore spoilers are unimportant. For instance, I felt like I had to grab Becoming right when it came out, but no one was going to ruin Michelle Obama’s memoir.
I am in the middle of a bit of a book deluge. A few weeks ago, I was trying to balance three books at once, and when I finished the final one, I said never again. I would read one book at a time. Two at most. Never three. And then new book after new book came up on the holds list, and I somehow found myself with four—FOUR—at once, frantically trying to read the three library ones and just dragging the paper one I own from room to room.
It doesn’t feel good. I don’t get to enjoy the story when I’m reading this quickly. I wake up in the morning and think, “I need to get through at least 50 pages today or the book will be due and I’ll miss out.” I would have delayed the hold, but they were all popular titles. So. I was sucked back into the bad habit.
Do you feel like you need to read, watch, listen to things right when they come out, or do you put off for months books/shows/music you’re excited about, getting to them whenever it fits into your life?
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While there are certain things that I may feel an immediacy see/read/hear, etc but mostly I like the digital resources where I can watch or read when it fits into my life.
“The book deluge” seems an appropriate description for the way I’m feeling this right now — fall (pre-Christmas) being the big season for new book releases, of course. I don’t generally feel like I NEED to read/watch/listen to things right away — and it’s not very often that I actually do (and it’s more true for books than anything else, I think) — but I will admit I do feel the lure of the Shiny New Thing. 😉 I was browsing the NYT Books section online this morning for the reviews of today’s new releases, and there are three or four that immediately caught my eye, books I’ve heard about and have been looking forward to reading (and there were about the same number last Tuesday!) — but I have at least two book club selections I need to get through before I can pick up something purely for my own enjoyment. The book club selections are good and generally books I’ve been wanting to read anyway, but…
I’ve been comfortably reading 3 or 4 books per month on average this year, but there’s usually many more new books coming out that I’d like to read than that (nevermind my sagging shelves and towering TBR piles…). I will buy a book that I know I want to read and that I know will be good — but there’s my book club obligations, or something else comes up that I feel obligated to tackle first (e.g., I just read “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown, because there’s a new TV adaptation coming up mid-month that I’m interested in watching, and I like to read the book before the movie…), and so things keep getting pushed further down the pile. As just one example, I bought Hayley Mills’s memoir when it came out in early September. It’s everything I know I’ll enjoy — “Hollywood” memoir, I saw all her movies growing up, it’s been well reviewed, etc. — and I still haven’t touched it and it’s still way down the list in terms of priorities. Oh well.
Realistically, I know will never read everything on my bookshelves (especially when I keep adding to them, lol), let alone on my wish lists. But it’s sure fun trying. 😉
Sort of? I have a pile of things to be read, and sometimes when I get to the older ones…they have become slightly problematic in the interim. I had to give up on 3-4 true crime books (well, I’m still sort of reading that last one) because some of the things the authors wrote were SO NOT RIGHT. Like…one journalist was talking about how they inserted themselves into the family of a murder victim. And one author was a kid who (from the little I read) had some serious family stuff going on in the background. It was implied, but not explicitly stated. And then I made the mistake of googling and discovered that things ended up in a tragic but sort of predictable manner. The one I’m reading now is from 2001 or so, and just really exemplifies how we’ve progressed and regressed as a society at the same time.
And then there’s light fiction, where technology is progressing so quickly that things become outdated. Some things are still timeless – it’s at the back of my mind, though, when I read some old books.
I used to feel like this, especially about certain authors’ books, but my free time is more limited now, and I have SO many books that I want to read that I’ve become skeptical about picking up new books before I’ve heard from some fellow book-loving friends who’ve read them. At present, I feel like my TBR list is never-ending and its number never goes down because I am constantly adding new titles.
For reference, I recently finished a few books that were published in 2009, so yeah, I’m a bit behind. 😉
My mother-in-law assures me that retirement has done wonders for decreasing the count of her TBR list (because she has so much more time for reading), so I just have to hope to live to see that stage of life — ha!
@Sharon, I’m retired… I wish!! lol
Nah, I almost never read hot-of-the-press books. Same for music and movies.
I like to hear about books from other people – ideally, multiple other people – before I read them. Also, I chose books and movies based on current mood and interest (which may not match whatever is coming out at the moment).
On occasion, for authors I particularly like, I’ll make an exception and put the “hot” title on hold at the library – along with 179 other people. It takes a few months to get the book, but I’m at peace with that! 🙂
Mel, your blog has been a good source for books that I want to read some day!
The pressure of reading a book definitely takes away the enjoyment of it. It’s why I enjoy reading from my e-library – I can at least put it on hold if I know I can’t get to it. Though now my hold list is sooooo long! Though I do find that if I only have three days to finish a book, I’ll sometimes make a point of doing that. But it is more because I am enjoying the book and don’t want to go back to the bottom of the listin the hold, than because I feel pressured.
I do understand not wanting to hear all the hype about a book before you read it. But a book is still intimate – it is between the writer and the reader. It’s about context, what was before and what comes after, and about our mood when we’re reading it, how we pause to think about a sentence or phrase or anecdote. Even though I’d heard the “main points” (as determined by journalists) of Michelle Obama’s book before I read it, I got so much more from that book than the points that were highlighted by others.
Also, I’ve sometimes read two books at once – but only because one might be too heavy or needs time to process every chapter (page/word), so I read another in between. But four at a time? Noooooo! Take it easy! Breathe. And enjoy your books one at a time. I’m sure you’ll feel better for it.