2023 ... planting the forest

Another year, another battle with must-acquire-more-books fever. I am at low ebb at the moment - received none for Christmas, nor any gift certificates oriented in that direction, perhaps out of concern for my sanity - but cannot help continuing to note additional titles that are worth my investigating further.

I got one book as a Xmas gift, and bought myself a couple. My public library borrowing seems to have accelerated slightly, but these rarely languish unread. Due dates are motivating somehow.

My son kept calling me - asking what I wanted for Christmas. Every single time I told him to get me a book. I even sent him a list of titles I would love. He finally figured out that no matter how many books I have, I still want/need more, so he got me one from my list! He's such a good kid!

I buy my dad a book every Christmas, without fail. That's gonna be his gift and he knows it. I don't know whether he appreciates or not, I figure it's hit-and-miss, lol.

I did really well this year for the first time in ages. It seems that people have figured out that yes, a book, or a bookstore gift card, would be really appreciated. I got both!

Ahem, ahem, let's not forget what group we are in. I am very sorry to hear that you all have even more books to read now; that is a tragedy - albeit of minor proportions - but you shall overcome!

I just read something about unread stacks of books that made the analogy to a wine cellar. Each book, not unlike fine wine, is just waiting for the right mood and the right occasion to be read.

>7 vwinsloe: Oooh! I like that one!

I've acquired my first two books (trees?) of 2023. Something got me excited about an old thriller from 1980, the local used bookstore had a copy so I went in there ... that's dangerous ... came out with that one plus a couple more because there's no sense in not looking around while I'm there, and I can get all three for less than $20, and if I'm not going to read any of these before at least 2026, well, so what.

>9 Cecrow: 🤣

>9 Cecrow: I do that too, if the price is right, and if I decide at some point down the road that I am no longer interested in reading them, I put them in my Little Free Library where someone will want them.

Put another one on the 2026 pile ... hmm, no room ... 2027 pile, after I fell through the door of the local second hand goods store. Total accident.

Tried very hard not to buy a copy of Quichotte by Salman Rushdie, despite Don Quixote being a favourite of mine and my interest in Rushdie generally. Just too many other things on the go. Even when a paperback copy blazed at me on the discount rack at the drugstore, I was able to forebear. But when I encountered the hardcover on discount at the bookstore, it's like destiny was raising its bid and giving me one last chance. Fiiiiiiiiiine, I'll buy the stupid book, whatever.

Quoting member "pgmcc" from a chat in the Sci-Fi group: "I would love to read faster, but there is a limit to how fast I can read. There are also some books that I find are better read slowly, e.g. A Gentleman in Moscow. Reading this book too quickly would reduce the pleasure to be derived from reading it at all. Hence, reading faster to reduce Mt. TBR has limitations and can lead to reduced enjoyment."

Definitely an important point in this battle. My reading speed has improved a bit over the last couple of decades, but my memories of what I've read have blurred a bit at this quicker rate and it's become a bit harder for anything to really stand out and be recalled to mind over and over, like the books I read when I was younger. Maybe because I was younger? Maybe because my memory is getting worse? Or maybe because of this, reading too fast? Because the book that keeps hopping back into my head for no other particular reason is the historical novel Spangle that I read in 2019, which took me twice as long as my recent average to get through, due to life events. But that extended time seems to have burned it in better than most.

I do slow down for some more than others. Maybe an in-depth time analysis versus recurring memories correlation study is in order here. Nah, that sounds like a lot of work.

Reading only two novels in June was slow for me, but both were good and memorable. (Player of Games and Radiance)

>14 Cecrow: my reading speed really does depend upon the nature of the book. I rushed so fast through all of The Expanse novels and really greatly enjoyed them. But now I am reading The Book of the Long Sun and I find that I am reading much slower. Yet, I am enjoying it just as much but in a different way. So many questions that Gene Wolfe leaves for the reader to answer for themselves. But it means I read slower because I am trying to answer those questions for myself while I read. In contrast, James S. A. Corey pretty much tells you plainly what is going on but fills their characters richly such that I deeply care about them even though I devoured the books at such a fast pace.

So reading speed really varies for me depending upon the nature of what I am reading. And I would not say one mode is necessarily better than the other. They are just differently enjoyable reading experiences.

>15 paradoxosalpha:, love the Culture series! I waded through New Sun about twenty years ago and decided I would need to re-read it again at some point. That project isn't going well so far, but it remains an ambition. This fellow did some great analysis: https://www.tor.com/series/rereading-gene-wolfe/

>16 Neil_Luvs_Books:, I've not read the Expanse but have looked into it many times, and your experience matches what I'd anticipate.

My full read of the Solar Cycle was so satisfying that I will probably do a re-read in a decade or so. It was a re-read of the New Sun that continued directly into new reads of the Urth, Short Sun, and Long Sun. I'm considering a re-read of the original Earthsea trilogy for later this year, to continue on into the other Earthsea books I haven't read.

>18 paradoxosalpha: Seems like I am on a similar reading path but lagging somewhat behind you. I am halfway through The Book of the Long Sun and just ordered all three volumes of The Book of the Short Sun to complete the Solar Cycle. And then I plan to also read some Ursula Le Guin but instead of The Earthsea Cycle my aim is to read her Hainish Cycle of which I have read some but not all. I hope to get to a reread of The Earthsea Cycle at some point but likely not for another couple of years given my current TBR stack.