The Coolest Book

Nick and I like to spend time sitting at Barnes and Noble, sipping coffee and reading books we wish we had the spare cash to buy. I came across one on Wednesday that WILL be my next book purchase. It's called 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I'm always hesitant to try a new author, mostly because I'm afraid I'll hate the way he/she writes and will feel like I've wasted valuable reading time when I could have been reading something worthwhile like The Great Gatsby or Moby Dick. I will try a new author if one is recommended to me by someone I trust (which happens all the time) and I'm always glad to have found a good contemporary read. That's how I found Nicholas Sparks and Isabelle Allende. I suppose I just don't trust my own judgement when it comes to new authors. I've often found myself at the library, craving a new story and just unsure of where to look. Generally, I end up finding a classic--can't go wrong there.

But even the classics--there are so many classics that I've never heard of. I've joined an online reading group specifically devoted to reading classics, and while we've often debated what defines a book as "classic", I've read many books I'd have never thought were worth reading such as Metamorphasis, and The Tennent of Windfell Hall. I'd have passed those up on a bookstore or library shelf because I'd never heard of them before.

Now, I've found the answer! I've found the book to tell me what to read next. As I sat flipping through it, I felt so proud for having read a nice handfull of these books. Most were in college, but not all. A few were even recent reads. However, as I flipped through, I realized that several of these books were sitting on my shelves at home, unread. I have a copy of the Hunchback of Notre Damme and The Woman in white, (which I started in college, loved, and just never finished.) that I've never read. I started to think, "what am I doing wasting time in a bookstore? I've got to get home and get reading!"

Now that I know what I should be reading, I feel so far behind! Gotta get crackin'!

Comments

J. said…
Over the past year I think I must have purchased something like 50 books. All of them have been for class and the bulk were for research for term papers. I discovered a gold mine when it comes to books. Buy your books used from Amazon. I have been able to get really high prices books for sometimes 5 dollars and most are in really good condition. Yesterday I was able to get the diary of Gobbles for 25 bucks. The thing retails for 135! My text book for my WWII class I was able to get for 5 dollars and you know how much text books cost.

So if you want to buy a book by a new author and are leery about spending money, try Amazon.

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