I Can Read How Many Books at Once?

So, how CAN I get all those books read? I remember years ago I used to hear that if you left a tape recording of your school notes playing while you slept, your brain would have learned all the info by morning. Eventually, I believe that message was disproved, but I never got to try it. Back then it was uncommon for individuals to have recording machines, much less one that was portable.

What ARE all the books I want to read?

1. New novels by famous authors: I can easily be sucked into buying a book at a bookstore just by reading the clever blurb on the back. Many times these pile up at home, unread, because I default to my favorites again and again. As I’m blogging about this, I’m teaching myself that this is one of my flaws; I can be a book hoarder if I’m not careful.

2. Craft books about writing: I have had numerous books recommended at webinars and conferences and have taken copies home, to become shelves full of “how to write for children” books. Now I am beginning to look at these books differently. As I become a serious writer, I read about craft on a need-to-know basis for each specific manuscript. However, I can now see that books I bought 35 years ago are beginning to have out of date information about agents and editors and manuscripts. And the whole technology of submitting is missing. Perhaps I will be able to weed a few of those and empty a shelf?

3. Nonfiction books for background research on topics of personal interest: If a topic interests me, I tend to collect it. Over the years I have amassed a huge collection of WWII, immigration, Amish life, women’s voices, poetry, Newbery titles, Caldecott titles, volcanoes, ancestry, etc. I may never get them all read and I may or may not ever write anything about them, but the books are available.

4. All the great new YA and middle grade chapter books: I used to buy them with Scholastic points when I was teaching and loved sharing the best ones with my students. I no longer have students, but I still want to keep in touch with new writers out there who grab students’ minds with their words. Today’s writers have to be on top of kids’ needs and interests that may be different from what I know.

That is a TOTAL of too many books for one person to read in a lifetime. And when I have to spend actual time WRITING…oh, well, decisions, decisions.

Have a wild and wooly week!

Pat