The Evergrowing "To Be Read" Pile
"Every morning, I have woken up knowing that I will never run out of books to read. That has been my life."
~Kenzaburo Oe
I’m sure others know exactly what I’m talking about when I say, “Life just gets in the way.” Fortunately, I have been taking good care of myself during this craziness. I disappeared for a bit, but now I am back on track. I spent much of my free time going through my “To Be Read” pile which is approximately 125 books long, usually. My system includes picking a genre and reading what’s new, popular, or a classic within that category. A month or two will pass and then I’ll move onto a new genre. However, the past couple of months my choices have been rather eclectic in nature.
I was really moved by:
“The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov
“To a Mountain in Tibet” by Colin Thubron
“American Gods” by Neil Gaiman
“Lone Survivor” by Marcus Luttrell
I stared at this small list with a quizzical expression because they are so diverse. Bulgakov wrote his book decades ago and I picked that up by reading one of my favorite author’s blog posts. (I can only imagine what that says about me..lol) Thubron was reading passages in his book on a NPR news segment I caught and I fell in love with the detailed description of his pilgrimage and I could “see” despite never having been there. The last book on the list, I picked up on a whim in the military history section and I was moved by this marine’s struggle and the trauma he went through. Gaiman’s masterpiece is a work of fantasy mixed with mythology.
Some of these works of art would not have been my first, second, or third choice. But I branched out and am glad I sat down to read them. Always on the look-out for the next piece of literature to be properly honored….recommend something my dear friends, please!