So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Sometimes subtle, sometimes striking, the interplay between our lives and our books is the subject of this unique memoir by well-known publishing correspondent and self-described "readaholic" Sara Nelson. From Solzhenitsyn to Laura Zigman, Catherine M. to Captain Underpants, the result is a personal chronicle of insight, wit, and enough infectious enthusiasm to make a passionate reader out of anybody.

My Review: “Allowing yourself to stop reading a book - at page 25, 50, or even, less frequently, a few chapters from the end - is a rite of passage in a reader's life, the literary equivalent of a bar mitzvah or a communion, the moment at which you look at yourself and announce: Today I am an adult. I show more can make my own decisions.

Really, I could stop right there and have given you a full review of this tasty li'l morsel of a book about reading, loving, choosing, and enjoying the books that mark your life.

“You know you're in a bad patch when the most interesting part of the book you're reading is the acknowledgments page.”

No, no, this would be a fine place to end one's quest for a summing-up of this aperçu-heavy literary profiterole. A pyramid of crispy pastry filled with rich, scrumptious vanilla ice cream and loaded with fudge topping.

"Reading's ability to beam you up to a different world is a good part of the reason why people like me do it in the first place---because dollar for dollar, hour per hour, it's the most expedient way to get from our proscribed little 'here' to an imagined, intriguing 'there'. Part time machine, part Concorde, part ejector seat, books are our salvation."

Heavens, what was I thinking to have left this crystalline distillation of the infinity-edged pool of publishing's unending and occasionally successful manufacture of lovely writing, pretty jackets, and escapist/timeless/delectable work.

...and so you see my dilemma...stop where? stop there why? explain or not?

Just go read the damned book already. show less

I was apprehensive about finally reading this book, to tell you the truth....I'd saved it for several months and kept picking it up and admiring its cutesy title, its cartoonish cover, and its clever book concept (try to read a book a week for a year and then write about the experience)....Could the book possibly live up to the expectations I'd generated for it?Surprisingly, yes. This book feels like it was custom cut for us, the book-obsessed in the world, with chapters on the appeal of first lines in novels, husbands who don't read, double-booking....You almost wonder---Is Nelson here, secretly, among us in our online book groups, silently listening to and writing down our book passions, our book concerns? She is definitely one of us, show more in spirit. I heartily recommend this book. show less

In 2002, Sara Nelson, a book reviewer and journalist by trade, decided to spend the year reading a book a week and writing about her experiences. What resulted is this book, a collection of essays and ruminations on reading: her process choosing a book, reading more than one book, books vs. movies, and much, much more.

I love to read, and I love to read about reading. I am, admittedly, part of that niche, ready-made audience for this book. I enjoyed Sara's thoughts because I could relate and because she had a truly funny way of getting her points across. One essay that stands out in my mind was her discussion of reading more than one book at a time, and how sometimes she has books that she reads at home, but not in public. This could show more sound snobby, but it didn't to me because throughout the book she's talking about the "low" and "high-brow" literature she's reading, not ashamedly but in a friendly, confessional sort of way. Instead, it reminded me of when I was reading V for Vendetta for a class, but I stopped reading it in public because I kept getting asked if I'd seen the movie (I haven't). So I started bringing out Reading Matters, a collection of research on reading in the United States, that looked smarter and was my "fun" (ie., non-school) book at the time. This was one of many ways in which I found I could completely relate with Sara, which is ultimately, why I fell in love with her book. show less

Sometimes subtle, sometimes striking, the interplay between our lives and our books is the subject of this unique memoir by well-known publishing correspondent and self-described “readaholic” Sara Nelson. The project began as an experiment with a simple plan—fifty-two weeks, fifty-two books—that fell apart in the first week. It was then that Sara realized the books chose her as much as she chose them, and the rewards and frustrations they brought were nothing she could plan for. From Solzhenitsyn to Laura Zigman, Catherine M. to Captain Underpants, the result is a personal chronicle of insight, wit, and enough infectious enthusiasm to make a passionate reader out of anybody.

I really don't like the cover of this book because, to me, it gives the impression that it's a sweet, gentle memoir of a reader who favors sweet, gentle books. It doesn't fit. While this is a memoir, it's about the books that have come into Nelson's life, and what was going on at the time that shaped how the books were received.
There was Facing the Wind, the true crime book written by Nelson's acquaintance that had her looking at her son's Little League baseball ball with anxiety. The French sex memoir that had her cringing, the novels that she unexpectedly fell in love with, and the ones she was told she'd love, but didn't. As a New Yorker living in an upscale neighborhood and working in the magazine/publishing industry, she has the show more opportunity to tell Calvin Trillin to his face that she's a fan of his forgotten first novel.
But there are darker elements to her reading, as she discusses her husband's sometimes explosive anger while exploring the history of Japanese-Americans and the internment camps, and helps her sister navigate the publication of her own novel.
Nelson was an editor and columnist, but it's a real shame that this 2002 release has been her only book. You'll be writing down titles and googling the people mentioned throughout. show less

An enjoyable read: This is a fun to read, breezy memoir of Nelson's reading over the course of the year. In the year, we see her obsess over some books, while struggling mightily over others. She talks about how certain books have become beacons in her life, reminding her of times good and bad. Finally, we get to hear someone actually vocalize the obsessive-compulsive way that voracious readers approach books.

I found that Nelson had a very fun way of telling her story. Even though she was a bit intense about this undertaking, her earnestness never went overboard. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her tale, and will look for other books by her in the future.

Surprisingly enough, reading about someone else's adventures in reading is interesting, involving, even addictive.

I originally picked the book by the title -- I suspect someone on Goodreads I know had it in his or her list and I grabbed it from there, or perhaps I saw it somewhere else. I can't remember. But I checked it out from the library and, while checking the first page, got hooked. While I don't have the author's job or her reading appetite (at least, not any more -- once upon a time I read to live), she and I share many habits -- the "double booking" (although I tend to keep book harems), the mood reading, the piles of books yet unread waiting for that moment I know is coming when I will want one of them, the problems of show more friendships and book loaning, the idea that each book is a relationship. I was surprised to read someone else putting these thoughts into words. My reading has slowed, I think, because of late my life hasn't left me with the energy and courage to start up these new relationships. It's easier to reread familiar books.

I've also compiled a new list of books I want to try reading (like I needed MORE). Whether Nelson liked the book or didn't finish it, the casual way she discusses books and book readers is so true to my own life that I have to try her recommendations.

This book has a few years on it, aging in a way that is particular to such books -- after all, she's talking about books and authors that were new to her in 2003, and 7 years is enough time to put some age on the titles she mentions. However, the ideas about reading and readers don't age. Her voice -- familiar to me, casual, honest, funny -- captured my attention and made me read when I should have slept.

Encouraged by her example, I'm dedicating 2011 to a similar task -- reading one book a week and keeping a record of it. I don't expect to get a book deal out of it (if only!) but I might reduce my "To-Read" shelf a bit. 52 books seems, at once, like a completely attainable goal and like the purist folly, but I feel inspired. show less