Julie R. Neidlinger: Lone Prairie Art and Writing

Non-readers, non-writers, and professional book handlers.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

I once found myself cracking the binding and dog-earing three pages of a very boring book. I'd never read the book, mind you. It had been a gift that had cruelly sat on my shelf for a long time. The gift-giver's visit caused me to rush about and make the book appear read. I also read the last pages of a few chapters. Just in case I was quizzed.

I asked a friend on LibraryThing if he'd read all the books he had listed.

"Most of them."

I was immediately shamed. I have many books I've not read yet, though that doesn't stop me from buying new books.

I'm not an entirely horrible creature. There are books that have been sitting on my shelf or bedside for ages that suddenly, I latch onto and can't put down. Some books I try repeatedly to get through before giving up and chalking it up to what I call the "reader's manifesto syndrome." Life's far too short to torture myself with the writing of another if I can't bring myself to enjoy it.

Sooner or later, though, the majority of my books will get read. Or made to look like they were.

All that said, then, it is with great interest that I read the following three blog posts by Alex Massie: