Some might see this as a problem, but I see it as a way to keep myself alive for as long as possible (I hope this is long range planning, but, who can say?). I have been on Goodreads, a kind of bibliophile website, for a few months shy of a year. On this site, one can list books he/she has read, is reading, and wants to read. It is invaluable to a forgetful reader such as my self in several ways. First, I can, using the review and rating feature, keep some record of my reactions to books, then, in the future, I can refresh my memory if need be about whether I have read a book (I forget sometimes), and whether I enjoyed it or not. In addition, I can share my ratings and reviews and such with friends who care to link up to my page. It's a nice way to keep track of, and get ideas from other readers. You can even comment to others' ratings and reviews, thus, a dialogue is possible, too. Most importantly and most enjoyable for me, however, is the feature by which I can keep track of books I wish to read. I used to try to jot downs books I heard about or read about that I wanted to read, but, often, the scrap of paper, or sticky note, or marginal notation on a piece of other mucilage was lost. I even carried around a little notebook for a while, but, that got buried under some pile of other papers eventually. Now, I can keep them handy on this little website. I can print them off when I go to the library or bookstore, and, thereby, I can, in a more orderly manner, wade through my reading list.
So, you might ask, what is the problem? Well, this tomic accounting has revealed to me something I have known all along, the "to read" list, grows more quickly than the "read" list. By a rate (at the present) of 2 to 1. But, if you'll recall, I said this was not a problem, but a way to ensure longevity. How? Well, as long as I have twice as many books to read as I have read, I will always have a goal. With a goal, I will always have something to live for. After all, who wants to leave this earthly sphere not having read the latest Booker Prize winner?
1 comment:
I like this. Though I must ask: Does your plan have a contingency in case of a power outage? What if you can't access your list via the interweb? Will you die? Is lack of internet access essentially your kryptonite?
How about a twist on this? One could say that I live to read the next installment of CentStand. So as long as you keep postin', Ima keep on livin'. And it sounds like you'll keep livin' so long's you gots Goodreads access.
Either way, we lose access to that there interweb and we're both dead. Comcast might really start to jack up their rates if we need them that much!
Hmph.
Anon AMVB, sleepyheads
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