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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2007 > February > 17 > Entry
breaking in new habits
The writer Joe Queenan wrote an essay that appeared in the New York Times a few months ago. In it he talked about his reading habits. Apparently, Queenan reads multiple books simultaneously. When he gets tired of the one that he’s reading he picks up a different book and starts reading where he left off before.
His piece caused me to ponder my own reading habits. I realized how much they’ve changed.
I used to be one of those book-at-a-time kind of guys. I would read a book until I finished it then I would start reading a new book. Now, I’m more like Queenan. But it has been a gradual transition.
When I hosted a radio show every weekday afternoon I was always reading on deadline. During the first two hours of the program I played music and often I was also trying to finish the book that I had scheduled for a discussion coming up at 2 o’clock.
Sometimes I had an interview with an author scheduled every day of the week and I would frequently finish reading the book with mere moments to spare. I always hoped that the author would arrive right at 2 o’clock because it was a bit distracting to be turning the last few pages as the author looked in at me through the windows of the studio.
Over the past few years I have expanded my reading horizons. Now I will usually start reading several books every day. Some books simply don’t appeal to me and I discard them, usually forever. Others languish in a pile on the nightstand. Some of these I will peruse a few times a week. Others sit there untouched for months.
I always have at least one book that I’m reading straight through. Then I take breaks by picking up some of the others in the pile. I would liken it to “cleansing the palate.”
I usually try to have at least one really long book in progress. Right now it’s “A History of the English- Speaking Peoples Since 1900” by Andrew Roberts (Harper Collins). History buffs might feel a twinge of recognition. Winston Churchill wrote a superb history series with that same title. Churchill’s ended with the year 1900.
Roberts has written an enthralling volume. His politics are rather conservative and I get a kick out of spotting some of his most gratuitous biases on display. For instance, he calls President Franklin D. Roosevelt the first “neo-con.” My grandfather, a life-long Republican and Roosevelt loather would have certainly been flummoxed by that opinion.
The book that I have been reading for the longest time is “54” by “Wu Ming” (Harcourt).One of my favorite novels from the year 2004 was “Q” by “Luther Blissett” (Harcourt). I’m reading “54” because I was impressed by the previous book. You see, “Wu Ming” and “Luther Blissett” are pseudonyms for a group of Italian anarchists in Bologna. They write their books communally.
“54” takes place in Italy in the years right after WWII. I’m having a tough time with it. I don’t enjoy it very much. I keep hoping that my struggles will pay off in the end. Normally, I would have given up but these writers have a track record with me so I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Last night I started a book that I plan to review on March 4th. This author wrote a book that was one of my absolute favorites back in high school. This new one is also incredible.
So, I’ve gone from reading a book at a time to reading multiple books simultaneously a la Joe Queenan.
What are your reading habits? I like to read every night before I fall asleep. Do you read one book at a time? What’s the best book that you have read lately?
Do tell.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: clearing the cobwebs
Comments
By Page Turner
February 27, 2007 10:12 AM | Link to this
I usually have about 3 books going at a time. Like you, Vick, I like to slog through a big one while breezing through others. My big one right now is “The Rise of American Civilization” by Charles & Mary Beard (only $199 at Amazon.com!) When it’s written, “The Decline of American Civilization” will be a shorter read. Just finished Charles R. Cross’ fine biography of Jimi Hendrix: “Room Full of Mirrors.”