Hi there, readers. Are you a book reader, a book lover? I am. But do you have books you haven’t read yet? I sure do. Owning and reading books brings me comfort, inspiration, entertainment, education, joy, and more. The “more” includes escaping into other people’s lives, other cultures, other times. As you might suspect, I’m doing an extra amount of reading these days. I keep my local library busy and also keep Thriftbooks in business.
What is tsundoku?
If you love having books in your home, today is your lucky day because I am sharing a link to a unique article about having unread books. For instance, I have a cheap copy of the novel, Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky over there on a bookshelf staring me down. I’ve seen the movie, which was remarkable and well done, but we know movies are never the same as the books they portray.
Anyway, back to tsundoku. It’s the Japanese name for having books you haven’t read. The Japanese say that this situation enriches us. Why? The books remind us of all we do not know.
Note: This link comes thanks to my friend, Carolyn, who sent it to me. Enjoy!
What our shelves of unread books teach us about ourselves – Big Think
BTW, what am I reading these days?
My most recent read was, of all things, Great Expectations by the great British writer, Charles Dickens. What a trip that was, and what surprising turns the story took. I probably read it in school, but I just didn’t remember how it went. Now I’m on to another novel, This is Happiness by the equally great (in my opinion) Irish writer, Niall Williams. After that, waiting on my desk, is the non-fiction book, Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari.
Thanks for reading!
Your writer on the wing,
Charlene
Linda M Goddard
Thank you, Charlene, for sharing your thoughts on books we haven’t read. Even though I had to donate soooooo many of my books–some I hadn’t read–I still have a few books I intend to read here in my new place on my book shelf. And, YES, they’re staring at me every day.
Maybe your comments will inspire me to grab Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake, by Northrop Frye. I not sure I have enough brain power to tackle this book, but maybe.
Charlene L. Edge
I, too, have had to donate books when I underwent moves from one place to another, and that was hard. The book on Blake sounds interesting. He’s one of my favorite poets.
Happy reading whatever you read.