Rambling about book reading, generally
Have you ever walked into a library, browsed aisles and aisles of books, jaw dropped at topics you didn’t know existed, only to feel sad because you would never be able to read and absorb it all?
I worked at a digital library once, albeit a small one, but all the publications fit so neatly into an Excel file that I didn’t feel overwhelmed with all the knowledge that would pass me by, unlike the feelings in a physical library.
To book-readers, what’s your reading habit like? To book-nopers, no judgement just don’t fry your brain with too many stimulating activities :)
My current reading habit is as follows
I simultaneously read 9 books (?!), dipping a diversity of genres and topics, in both physical and digital formats. I like to mix the serious and non-serious, the technically deep with the surface-level, fiction and non-fiction simultaneously to add variety to the load. Not the kind of person with one mood all the time. (One of my friends is also doing the same thing so that’s totally not weird). That’s the what. As for the when, I don’t have routinely book o’clock hours; it’s usually just whenever I feel like it , though I do have a couple of reading time-blocks in my calendar dedicated to 2 categories: general and economics.
Last year, I only finished 3, with tons of in-progress ones. That’s a shameful number for someone who identifies as a ‘like-to-read’ person — with a goal for 2023 to end with 12 books read. I’m sure there are better methods out there, and my way is obviously not optimal.
Before moving to Canada for university, I had a bookshelf with over 200 titles, mostly fictions, that I devoured. Back then, I used to make fun at my younger sister for being a “tsundoku’, but now I am one. ‘Cười người hôm trước, hôm sau người cười’. Ironically, when I used to immerse myself in books after books after books, I didn’t bother to track them at all. Now that I have an active goodreads account set up and running, I don’t read nearly as much.
Couple weeks ago, I stumbled upon a short article from a new author who recently have her first book published. Couldn’t remember her name, but what she wrote sticks with me. She mentioned that having a book published — it’s not as life changing as she thought it would be — at all. I was intrigued, because I have always thought that it would be in some ways. Well, maybe because being on either side of the book has changed so much.
On the book supply side: Easier to have a book published.
During the Middle Ages, books were painstakingly hand-copied, and until the invention of Gutenberg’s mechanical movable type aka printing press (1448), books were expensive and not widely available. Since then, mass production of books means lower cost, faster and easier printing, hence lowering barriers to approval and publication. For the first time, texts could be widely dispersed, allowing political, intellectual, religious, and cultural ideas to spread widely.
Moreover, the growth of international trade has allowed these books to have a wider reach, at the same time, more authors are emerging from all over the world as more people can read and write. As a result, more and more books are being published every year (unfortunately I couldn’t find a reliable source for the statistics), not only expanding existing genres but also introducing new ones, such as Cli-fi.
The prestige of being a book author has diminished, given the increased accessibility to publishing opportunities plus the fact that there’s an ocean of authors out there.
On the demand side: No time to read?
It’s true that more books are being published and bought than ever, but how many of them actually got read, right my tsundoku people? After the printing press, for the first time, many people could read the same books and be exposed to the same ideas at the same time, giving rise to mass media and mass culture. Then the Internet came along and gave birth to other forms of information sharing, such as blogs, social media, and news — all dramatically more speedy and visually appealing. Books, arguably, used to be the best way to gain in-depth knowledge about a given topic without talking to anyone pre-Internet, to broaden one’s horizon whether it’s fiction or non-fiction. Is that still the case? You surely know the answer.
Saying ‘I finished that book’ even has multiple interpretations today, rather than just one. Books can be consumed as print, ebook, audiobook, or through shortcut methods like googling book summaries or watching someone tell you the main takeaways on Youtube/TikTok (apologies to writing-class professor, just speaking from experience). These shortcuts were once limited to popular books, but now Artificial Intelligence platforms can summarize books in seconds (though accuracy may vary).
Therefore, being a book reader is a continuum in terms of commitment, and people find it challenging to allocate time for reading, as books must compete with increasingly many types of modern distractions and information-sharing technology.
Random questions about book reading
Sometimes I think about my 70s-year-old econ professor who is weaving his entire life’s worth of research into a book. ‘It’s hard work’, he said, having been working on it for 3 years. This reminds me of the acknowledgment section of the book I recently finished, Chatter by Ethan Kross, and holy moly — the author thanked around 100 people or so who helped bring the book to life!
Is the hard work invested in writing a book justified by the number of readers, or do authors prioritize other factors? Is the goal to reach a certain number of copies sold, to see your thoughts become tangible, or something else?
Sometimes, when it rains, I crave a good book in a cozy spot. Indoor reading is great, but what if it’s sunny? A book by the beach sounds nice.
Is there such a thing as perfect book weather, or does the weather even matter?
Dozens of fiction books used to be my getaway and friend during the kid and teenage phases. Then, I discovered the self-help genre when I entered high school, where books became like a part-time mentor (and shame on the fiction-reading-me for being too childish — though not anymore). During undergrad, technical books dominated, making reading less recreational. Now, I can’t seem to narrow down my interests: fiction, psychology, economics, philosophy, political science, running, history, strategy, and more.
What does reading mean to me now? Should I read more, or read less when I can’t seem to finish books I started?
This is the point of this entire ramble. I’m not sure, so I need to find the answer for myself. Ask yourself this if you’d like. Some people have captured the magic of books, such as
“Salvation is certainly among the reasons I read. Reading and writing have always pulled me out of the darkest experiences in my life. Stories have given me a place in which to lose myself.” — Roxane Gay
“It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.” — S.I. Hayakawa
“Reading is important. If you know how to read, then the whole world opens up to you.” — Barack Obama
Of course, there exists the universal reasons, but the bundle of specific reasons is unique to oneself.
Books mean a lot to me as a lifelong nerd. They serve as a source of awe and inspiration, an occasionally recreational escape to distract myself from my thoughts, and a door to an imaginative world. Moreover, reading is one of the rare non-screen activities left. It’s a comforting activity where I decide my own pace, kinda maintaining my sanity and triggering my brain to think in refreshing ways, which helps expand my worldview. While I acknowledge that I can gather information more quickly and with less effort through other means, my brain doesn’t function like a magical memorization machine. Reading is a passive activity, but perhaps less passive than instant digital visuals. Additionally, reading helps improve my writing skills, especially as a sequential bilingual.
One day in the future, trees might have died so much due to climate change that physical books become expensive again. Being a tsundoku might pay off, but until then, end of rambling.
#3 — January 2024.
