The List

So in a recent-ish post, I talked about life on the reading list. It keeps getting longer and longer--having wonderfully avid readers for friends and family means I keep getting recommendations. And, yes, I pay attention to them. And, yes, I have a habit of buying myself books. In the grand scheme of things, books are a cheap vice. Especially when one buys them used on Amazon, works in a publishing company, and has a library card. Or when one goes to a used book sale and walks away with 15 books (only 3 of them previously read) for $14...

It was a proud moment.

But, awhile back, as I waited rather impatiently for the arrival of yet another book, I realized that I should probably take stock of the books I own and have not yet read. And, for the reasons stated above, the number was hefty.

Hi, my name is Alicia, and I have a problem. 

To be honest, I'm not actually concerned with the number of books that I own--I think the Beast's gift to Belle of his library is the epitome of love, and it's a gift that I've always wanted for myself. But I'm not waiting for a fairy tale to get that library when I can read one from my very own leather-bound copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales (true story). To me, every book I buy is an investment in my happiness.

So, the list--how does it work? To get myself started, I used one of those ubiquitous "100 Books Everybody Should Read" lists--I think this particular one is either from The Guardian or the BBC. That helped (and still helped) me cover the classics, as well as a few popular novels I might have ignored. (Which is why The Time Traveler's Wife and Cold Mountain were two books I picked up at the used book sale.)

Then I mix in classics of the sci-fi/fantasy genre that I feel I need to read. In Yokosuka, when I first started reading fantasy, the book selection wasn't great. And then, due to my struggling with my preference for fantasy in high school, I've actually missed out on a lot of the "greats," filling my bookshelf with good, but rather not well-known, books and series instead.

On top of all that, I add in books that have been recommended to me, just look interesting, or suit whatever my current whimsy is. The result is a bit of a hodgepodge, but I feel like the miscellany of it all keeps my interest in reading fresh--I never weigh myself down by reading too many books of the genre in a row. I also try to keep it as fluid as possible, giving myself options within genre, so I don't ever feel like I "have" to read something, because that only stirs the adolescent rebellion and stubbornness in me. (Similar reasoning wisely prevents me from dieting.) The list ends up looking something like this:

The Current List:
1. Currently reading: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
2. YA Novels: either What Came from the Stars by (the world famous author) Gary Schmidt or Looking for Alaska by John Green
3. Classic: either 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne or Evelina by Frances Burney
4. Sci-Fi/Fantasy "Classic:" either The Dark Tower by Stephen King or The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K. LeGuin
5. Literary: either Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson or On Beauty by Zadie Smith
6. Wild cards: Castle Waiting (a collection of a comic book series recommended to me by a friend) by Linda Medley, The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (which I abandoned half-finished a year ago due to lack of time) or Lifespan of a Fact (a fascinating book on the construction of a "nonfiction" essay) by John D'Agata and Jim Fingal

Of course, this could all change on a whim or upon discovery of a new book. But this keeps me (somewhat) focused and the actual list to a (somewhat) manageable appearance.