A Lifetime of Books

I would rather read than do almost anything else. Been that way since I was small.

I learned to read before I started kindergarten. I don't know how or why. Perhaps I was just ready for what my gut knew was going to be the best part of my life.

I have absolutely no way to estimate how many books I have read in my lifetime. I could guess, but I think I'd likely be way off. When I was in elementary school, and there was the summer reading program at the library, I was one of those kids that needed something like 8 sheets to keep track of them all. When going away for a week or more on vacation, my mother would take me to the library first so I could get 15 or so books to last me.

I read in trees. I read on the lawn. I read in bed. I read under the covers. I read in the middle of rooms with chaos ensuing, completely oblivious to it all. I read in the car. I read on planes. I still do all of these things. I can read while walking if necessary. I've even been known to read at red lights while driving if I'm at a particularly compelling part of a book.

I've read everything. I read fiction and nonfiction. I read stuff that was on the 10th grade curriculum list when I was in the 7th grade. I made time to read for pleasure all through college and grad school on top of my required reading. I have a penchant for disaster stories (floods, trepidatious adventures, natural disasters, man made disasters). I love sociology and anthropology - especially when it reads easily. I am on the constant hunt for the great contemporary novel, reading new stuff that comes out. I have a queue set up in my library account similar to my Netflix account. As soon as I read a review in Entertainment Weekly, The New Yorker, Time Magazine or the newspaper, I put it in my library queue, sometimes while the book is still marked "on order" by the library. Then I wait for it to get to my branch. I called once after not getting to the library quickly enough for a pick-up after getting my email notification and the librarian said "Oh, I know you're coming. No worries."

I love to learn from reading. If I can read a story or an account and really learn something new, I'm that much more pleased. I love good character development; I can do without a lot of scenery description (this is why I never finished Wicked although I loved the stage show - I don't care for that much description of the lands around Oz - get me to the story, Greg!). I love anything that makes me cry; tell a story to tug at my heartstrings and you've got me. I love (love, love!) a good children's book or young adult novel.

I am obsessive. If a book really matters to me, I will talk incessantly about it and badger others into reading it. Sometimes people are glad I've done this, other times they sort of cock their heads afterward and try to not be too mean about the fact that I've stolen time from their lives.

I write to (and now email) authors. The first I really remember was Nathan McCall about his book Makes Me Wanna Holler. It was a letter, since it was the early to mid-90s and I didn't have email. I write them mostly to say thank you. Once I wrote to Junot Diaz to find out about a reference he made to a short story in his book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I once got in a fight with Jody Picoult about her reason for ending Handle With Care the way she did. Most of the time, authors respond back with lightening speed. It's pretty satisfying. I've gone to lots of readings, sometimes in intimate settings where I get to say hello afterward. I have a bit of hero worship for authors in general.

To go back to that guess, I'd venture to say this: I've been reading since I was 5. So that's 32 years. I think it might be safe to say I could average - over all those years - 40 books a year. So that's 1280 books to date. Is that a lot? A tiny little internet search just now found that there was an article in the late 80s that said the average American reads 1000 books in their lifetime. Then a dude responded to that and said that he keeps track and is at just under 4000 books read and he reads 2-3 a week and he's 49. So, I will use this (very scientific) information to say that my 1280 is pretty good. (I also think it might be conservative. It might be more accurate to estimate that I've read more like 45 or 48 a year.)

People often pose that question: would you rather be deaf or blind (if you had to pick one). I've always chosen deaf. People are always amazed. I always say that with deafness, independence is not a problem, but with being blind, it seems to me that one would really need to rely on others to live. I think though, the other reason is that if I were blind, reading would change so drastically, it would be hard for me to handle. That book in my hand, the words on the page, the speed with which I can get through the pages - to lose that would be real tragedy for me.

I have no interest in a Kindle. I love the heft of a book in my hands. I love the turning of a page. I love that books are company no matter what I'm doing. There's no line too long or wait to annoying as long as I've got my book in my bag - and I always do.

Gotta go now. Some more of Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell awaits!