The Underminer!

I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to achieving Book Shelf Zero. I have acquired 8 books over the last few days. I ordered 4 from Thriftbooks and traded some books I had in my office and on the shelves at home to get store credit at 2nd and Charles. I used that store credit to buy 4 books. At least I bought books that further my already established reading goals. I have the next Drizzt trilogy line up (1 ebook, 2 print). I bought a Roth book (a fairly skinny one), and a ML Top 100 book (The Naked and the Damned). Duman Malone volume 3 (I'm pretty sure I have packed volume 2 but I won't be sure until I load the shelves in Clearwater). I even picked up a book from the Contemporary List, Volume 1 of My Struggle. I tell myself I did well by keeping my purchases in line with my reading goals, but I'm still adding more to the pile faster than I am making the pile smaller.

I did make the pile smaller by removing some books that I decided I didn't want to read. I removed a book on leadership, it was one of the books from my almost empty office, and a Sci-fi book that I bought used ages ago. It was long and I had no interest in it at this point. So I added 8 but removed 2. My book count stands at 166. And I wanted to get below 140 this year. I guess I should be getting busy.

Just over 300 days

I finished reading a skinny, easy to read book tonight. I packed a box of thick, challenging books to take with me to Florida. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is something I saw on bookstore shelves for years. I was never really intrigued enough to buy it, but when I saw it on a list of important books from the 90s I decided to see if the library had it. They did, I put a hold, it was available pretty quickly, and I read it pretty quickly. It was so cliche and obvious. Every teen after school special was in it. All the significiers of interesting and unconventional people were there. It wasn't bad. It was just flat. Maybe I'm just the wrong audience. It's hard to relate to a teenager when you're in your 40s.

The books I packed up were the opposite of Wallflower. They were all thick and dense. These are my aspirational books. They are the things I would like to be reading. If I'm ever going to read some of these things before I'm retired, this will be the time. What else am I going to do? I will avoid putting games on my phone. I've never been able to just sit and watch sports. I can't gamble on my phone in Florida so I won't have a financial interest in the games. That will leave plenty of time for distraction free reading. This could be my chance to see if I can read the really dense stuff that I buy because it's something I want to read someday. War and Peace, The Magic Mountain, some very heavy history books. James and Balzac. I don't need to read all of them. It would be nice to make it through a handful of them. 

I have just over 300 days until my family will be joining me in Florida. That's about 40 books if I average 1 a week. I've probably packed about 60 to 70 books. THrow in what I have on my phone and I will have 100 books to choose from. I will definitely not read them all, but I can make a pretty decent dent.  

A New Reading Project is Born!

I packed up some of my unread books for my year of (partial) isolation. Another group of books to read, another reading project is born! At first I thought listing all of these books and checking them off would be the challenge, but now I think it's just the books read while I'm living alone in this apartment. This could be my chance to be a little more intentional. This could be the time to take in the big serious books that I've had for years. more focused and intentional reading will give me some direction and purpose. I will start a Goodreads shelf. Alta Clearwater.

I actually toured the apartment this week. It feels real now. Moving was still an abstract idea in my previous post. I'm not as worried about low mental energies now. I will be very surprised if my new job is as taxing as my current one. I won't be dealing with a massive organization that can't get out of its own way. I should be able to take on big fat books.

I managed to finish a book this week. I got to the end of The Heart of the Matter on the plane ride home. It was decent but not as good as other books on the Modern Library 100. The religious aspects of the character's motivation felt out of place. The attitude toward the native Africans is widely out of sync with current sensibilities, which is a plus. I should change my 3 stars to 5 just to give it a boost to keep this problematic book on the radar. This is the 51st book of the Modern Library 100 that I have read. (3 more needed to complete a New Year's Resolution.)

I'm very close to finishing a library book. More on that when I get it wrapped up. A bit under an hour left according to the Kindle app.

Still exploring reading projects

The resignation email has been sent, and I'm getting more acclimated to the idea that I will be living in Florida. I'm getting excited about it now. My trip next week will be the first time that I really get to look around. This is a big step. Planning the ways that I will fill my time remains a big priority. Exploring the possibilities makes this time feel a bit less scary so it's an exercise worth pursuing even if several of the projects never come to fruition. 

I tried one of the Alexa Codex books after checking it out from the library. I like how it feels. I picked up the first book in the series at B&N on my way home from picking up my new car. (Total aside, I've been coasting for months and months. I should have bought a new car months ago. The direction and energy that step has brought is very surprising). (Second aside, I'm pretty deep into the beer tonight so this post may be a bit wonky from a structure perspective. My apologies.) I've been into 90s nostalgia recently. I found a podcast about songs of the 90s (60 songs to explain the 90s), I've been watching The Darkside of the 90s with T, and I've been digging into Radiohead. Is there a good list of essential books from the 90s? Yes, there are actually several. I haven't found one that really resonates with me though. Roth's books are part of several lists so I could pursue that project. Wikipedia lists 29 books (according to my slightly drunk count). I have read 2 of them according to my Goodreads list. I may have read The Ghost Writer and Goodbye, Columbus, but I am not 100% certain of that. There are other reading projects that are more pressing and where I already own the books, but I am intrigued. 

Looking over some of the lists reminded me of several books that I saw on the shelves while I was in mall bookstores in the 90s. The English Patient was very big during that time. I checked that out from the library once but didn't really get very deep. Infinite Jest is a big 90s book. I own it. I suspect I will never read it (this is the kind of reading project I should be pursuing). The Perks of being a Wallflower is something that always caught my eye but I have never actually considered reading. Don Delillo's Underworld is another prominent 90s book that I own and have never read. I've read lots of Cormac McCartney but I"ve never read All the Pretty Horses. I saw the trilogy for sale once but talked myself out of getting it (maybe it was a print book with all three novels, not sure). There are some good possibilities here. I may have to make my own list and add that to my many reading projects. Maybe I'll actually complete one some day!

I'm going to add a few of these to my Thriftbooks cart. That may be the first thing that gets ordered to my new apartment...

A Big Wrinkle

So I've accepted a job in Florida. I had to come to terms with spending several months apart from my family to make this happen, but I made it over that obstacle. (I will come back for frequent visits and they will come down to see me so it's not like I will never see them.) I will need to fill up my time away with plenty of stuff to keep their absence from my daily life at bay. I'm guessing that reading will be something that I use to keep my mind busy while sitting alone in my apartment. Bring on the reading projects!

I read over my previous reading project post to see what might look like something to pursue in earnest. Reading Proust is a possibility. Malone's Jefferson bio is also a possibility. The book lists are always fun pursuits, but I'm looking for something I can complete in the 9-10 months I will be on my own. Chip away at Book Shelf Zero. Set a number target? I thought I had no shot at getting below 140 by the end of the year. I'm at 160. Twenty books is a possibility once I'm down there in September. That's four months. That's roughly 16 weeks. I will finish a few books before I head down there. That's very doable.

I'm writing like I will have a huge surplus of time to read. I will be working, obviously. Working out is going to be an important way for me to moderate my stress and empty feelings from separation. I may not have the mental energy to read (that has been a huge issue for the last year and a half). I will be talking to my wife and kids. I plan on writing them emails pretty regularly. I expect my weekends will be empty and that's when I will spend more time reading. I worry about what I will do on the weekends that I don't come back to visit. Looking for houses and exploring will take up some of that time. I may visit Disney if I end up getting an annual pass (and they lift the new mask requirements). Reading will be what I can do to fill the empty time.

Easier reading than Proust may be the better choice. Finish Drizzt? That's a 20 something book series. They are pretty short too. I could read one over the weekend with a little effort. That's progress on the SF list so there's double progress. There are plenty of series in that list that I could pick up. That may be the right place to start. Maybe I can transition to heavier fare after I have adjusted to my new job and have learned to live without my wife and kids in my life everyday. That feels like the ticket. Which one? I think I would prefer thin books over big fat ones. That lowers the chance of me picking a fat series like The Sword of Truth or The Outlander. The Vorkosigan Saga looks like it has shorter books. I'm intrigued by The Codex Alera, but they are fat books. Maybe that's not so bad? Drizzt books are short. Mixing a couple of series could be a way to things fresh. I really need a series like the Wheel of Time. That was a fun read. I couldn't put the books down. That's what I need. Something engrossing to keep me distracted from being away from my family. Maybe this Codex series is the way to go. I may just have to get one to check it out...

157, for now anyway

The quest continues. I finished reading the first volume of Duman Malone's lengthy biography of Thomas Jefferson about a half hour ago. A small step, but it's a step in the right direction. A part of me knows that Bookshelf Zero will never happen, but I don't see that as a reason to stop making my to-read pile as small as possible. I will keep reading, buying, and recording each book I finish and buy in whatever tools are availabe at the time. My New Year's Reolution to get my to read pile down to 140 plays its own role in my desire to keep reading while resisting the urge to buy. A related reolution, finishing a fantasy series, is guiding me towards my next reading seelction. I'm leaning towards Silverthorn. This is book 3 in the Rift War Saga. I borrowed books 1 and 2 from the library earlier this year. I picked up Silverthorn at 2nd and Charles. After thinking I had all the time in the world to get back to the series, I realized that we are already to June. Silverthorn isn't particualry long. I should be able to get through it fairly quikly (assuming it's mildly entertaining). My goal is to have it finished before we leave for Disney in not quite 3 weeks. I think this is a highly doable goal. I had my summer reading list last yeat. I forgot about that list until I was reading my old posts earlier this evening. I don't know if I want to make a list for this summer, but I have a few directions I would like to pursue after I finish Silverthorn. I have some good library books in my Kindle. I have a history of Jazz that I would like to read. I'm interested in teh subject, but I also want to read the author. I followed him on Twitter until I delected my account (I still pop in using the web browser) and always enjoyed his posts. I have volume 2 of the Jefferson bio. I would like to maintain that momentum. I bought a couple of Modern Library 100 books late last year. They are both laying low in the garage. One or both of those could be amusing reads. I always think I should read Don Quioxte while I'm at Disney World. He's part of the Small World ride. It's a long book that I will probably never read, but maybe I'll at least pick it up and read a few pages. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. I bought the Stormlight Archives book 1 and 3 at some point last year. Book 1 was for my son to try. He has read other Sanderson books and enjoyed them. Book 3 was for me. I listened to the audio version right after it came out. I have hesitated getting the Audible version of book 4 as I haven't been making much progress with audiobooks over the last year or so (although I'm really enjoying The Hunt for Red October). I wanted to go back through book 3 before consuming book 4 in whatever media I eventually end up choosing. I have been read a chapter or so in the morning. I could be reading something new, but I like revisiting a story. I can dip in here and there and keep the handle on the overall arc and flow. It will take me months to read the whole thing at my current pace. It wouldn't surprise me if I end up making it my primary reading book and just get through it quickly.

Life sucks at the moment (thanks COVID)

I committed to commenting on my new unread book total of 152 at the end of my last post. So here's my comment, getting to Book Shelf Zero just isn't my number one priority at the moment. In the midst of COVID hysteria, I needed something to look forward to. Waiting for books to arrive is a great joy, far more joyful than it deserves but that's just how I am, so I ordered some books that looked interesting. I've mostly bought nonfiction titles. I'm talking hard core academic history titles. I finished one of them earlier this week. Tobacco Culture. It's about the mindset of the great planters in Virginia prior to the Revolution. It was an interesting and fun read. It was also really short which is definitely a plus. I'm planning on reading a few more before I buy again though. 

I'm actually finding it very hard to fit in reading time right now. I spend way too much time playing Dr Mario on my phone or scrolling through Twitter. The game is fun but Twitter can be obnoxious. I am so thoroughly and utterly over the social distancing and flimsy talk of people's safety that I just about can't stand it. We have so over reacted to the virus that I find myself more aggravated than I would prefer. I've never really struggled with mental health, but this damn situation has me feeling more depressed and defeated than I can remember. I still read and exercise and do those kinds of things, but it's more from habit than a desire to really get out and improve myself. It's just so hard to escape the negativity and malaise. All of my usual escapes have been contaminated with the insanity of trying to control the virus (an utter waste of effort). The little gaps in my day where I was able to clear my head have also disappeared as I'm working from home and my kids are here with me everyday (with today being an exception with one of them at a friend's house and the other at her summer camp). I should be at the gym, but I decided to write this first. I'm not very motivated to exercise, but I always feel better after I've lifted or run a couple of miles.

A brief note on reading before signing off. Not sure what physical book I will read next. The wife suggested something I've owned for a long time. Based on a previous evaluation, I think the longest tenured book in my collection may be Crime and Punishment, but it could be Don Quixote. Neither sound particularly inviting at the moment. Maybe I'll just scan the shelves and see what jumps out at me. I read the first Witcher book after borrowing it from the library. I watched the Netfilx series and enjoyed it. The book was good too. I have the next one borrowed already. The clock is ticking so I need to get to it before it goes away!