Literature and books have helped me through some tough times–marital implosion, depression, heart-break, recovery from a smashed tibia, etc. I can’t find the quote anywhere, but I once read that Virginia Woolf said the only time we lose our egos is when we read (obviously she couldn’t have been big on meditating–that reaps the same benefit). When I read, my problems disappear as I become absorbed in the fictional worlds of my books.
I have several books on my bookshelf that I haven’t read yet. Before I acquire any more books (I use the points on my credit card for Amazon gift certificates, or I go to BookBuyers, a used bookstore, and basically exchange old books for new-to-me ones), I better finish (start) the following (a mix of fiction and non-fiction):
- The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood
- Hateship, Friendship, Courship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories, Alice Munro
- A Mercy, Toni Morrison
- Citizens: a Chronicle of the French Revolution, Simon Schama
- Siddharta, Hermann Hesse
- When You Are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris
- Joan of Arc, Mark Twain
- The Hanged Man: A Story of Miracle, Memory and Colonialism in the Middle Ages, Robert Bartlett
- In Dubious Battle, John Steinbeck
- Women in Love, D.H. Lawrence
Good Lord! That’s going to take me a year! (I better get off this damn computer.)
I’m suprised. I didn’t realize I had that many unread tomes (and that’s not all of them). I recently received a $25 gift certificate for participating in a study on eBooks. I guess I’ll put it toward Christmas shopping–I certainly don’t need any more books at the moment.
I wonder, if I tallied up some of my other possessions, if I would be as surprised at how much more I have than I realize. I may be on to something…
