There's a difference between lists of “Books I'm Reading” and “Books I Have Out From the Library”. This is because I tend to take out a lot of books that sound interesting or I've heard about via various sources (Internet, magazine articles, friend recommendations, publisher catalogues) but usually only get around to reading a few of them in the end.
What I do instead is use the library books I have out as a “mini-library” where I can pick out a new book as I finish a different one. (I've just finished “Shush…Dispatches From A Public Library” and “Parking Lot Rules and 75 Other Ideas For Great Parenting” – neither of which really blew me away by the way and am currently reading “X Saves The World: How Generation X Got the Shaft But Can Still Keep Everything From Sucking” which I'm quite enjoying.)
Here's what's on my Library Bookshelf right now…
“Blood Meridian” – Cormac McCarthy
“Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangstas in the Public Library”
“Armageddon in Retrospect” – Kurt Vonnegut
“The Nasty Bits” – Anthony Bourdain
“Obama: From Promise to Power”
“Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs” – Dave Bidini
“I Sold My Soul on Ebay”
An assortment of five or six children's board and easy books
A couple paperbacks for Shea
A couple parenting books – one on play, one on helping your child sleep
A few magazines – Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Wired
What's that quote? “If you want to know a man, take a look at his bookshelf?” There's truth to that although I would argue that our bookshelves are often compiled to reflect the public persona we wish to present to the world, not necessarily so that they reflect who we really are. (How many people own copies of some “literary classic” that they've never read and never will? How many people conveniently store their copy of the latest King/Steele/Clancy/Grisham away from their bookshelf to keep it from judging eyes?)
So is my library bookshelf the public me or the private me? (I'll resist the urge to say “it has to be 'public you' since you're blogging about it, dumbass!”) Well, to my credit, I didn't “forget” to list any books I have out right now (honest) although there are times when I probably would have.
But when I mentioned the two most recent library books I'd read earlier, I did neglect to “mention” the third last book I read, a cultural studies survey of professional wrestling for example. So probably a mix of both depending on the day, the time and who's looking at it.
Comments 2
I chuckled when I saw you were reading X Saves the World – you're too young for that! 😉 Being an Xer myself, the title caught my eye at the Big C and I bought it after reading the inside blurb. Much enjoyed it and will be passing it along to another Xer.
Speaking of “what does my bookshelf say about me”, I've just finished unpacking 11 boxes of books after the move and have decided to try a colour sort of my fiction (just for fun/curoisity – I don't think I could live with my books so out of order!). http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2008/01/25/organizing-bookshelves-by-color/
Hey, I'm the same age as Chris – still in the X category although on the latter end of it.
I love how your bookshelves look and have considered doing the same thing myself. But I'm a bit too anal (I think you mention that you'll have to change it back soon too!)