Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
Posts: 3876

You might suppose that all one needs to read a book is the book anjd a little light so you could see the page. That may indeed be true for most of you but it misses the mark for me. It is more complex for me and involves much more equipment. As I made my bed this morning I was impressed with what lay on the bedspread as a result of my reading myself to sleep last night:

1. Two bookmarkers (even though I commonly dog-ear the page corners.

2. Three differently colored pens or pencils or highlighters to underline or highlight new words, neat and poignant sentences and to make terse and pithy comments to myself in the margin.

3. A ruler to assist in "2" above.

4. Anywhere from one to ten other books on the same or related subject so I can check this author out.

5. A dictionary---to look up new words.

6. An atlas so I can better imagine myself in the locale of the book.

7. An unspillable mug of whatever I am drinking with this book.

8. A box of kleenex (or rather Puffs which have no silicone or lotion in them).

9. A dictionary of foreign words or phrases (even though their are five Cassells foreign language dictionaries in a book case within reach of my bed but reaching over the mound of acciutrements to get them is cumbersome).

10. A journal in which I keep comments about what I read.

11. A pen ir pencil to write in the jpurnal.

12. A drip bottle of sterile saline solution to drop in my eyes every so often as I read so they will ;ast a little longer.

So you can see that it is not such a simple task for me to read a book as I drift off into the arms of Morpheus (that is what I am going to name my next dog---Morpheus).

Do any of you ever have this problem?

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quote:

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Originally posted by oxsan
8. A box of kleenex (or rather Puffs which have no silicone or lotion in them).

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
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No shit-head! To clean my glasses and mop up the spills from the unspillable mug,

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A likely story.

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When I saw Smug had answered your post, I thought it would be with a sharing of sentiments between two readers with high standards for their reading experience. I see however that he avoided commenting on this, so , oxsan, I thought I would share it with you.

It seems that Smug was born to read, and sees reading as maybe the most precious of activities. This means that at any one time he will be reading a range of fiction books as well as a number of non-fiction ones. These books are too precious to move, so they remain whereever he left them as small shrines to reading. Given that he reads faster than the speed of sound as well, he gets through a good few books a day, and all finished books are likewise left where they were. This causes difficulties if someone he lives with wishes to have a tidy house, as no book can have anything else rested on it, and if you tread on one you are committing a terrible sin, so in parts of the house you have to tip toe around the small 'shrines' trying not to break your leg. Then it all becomes too much and I have to put them away. It is at this point that it gets difficult; to throw a book away is sacrilege to smug, so there is a constant influx of books, but no outflow. This inevitably causes problems with storage space as anyone who has been to our house will notice, , so we now have a house full of bookcases, and he is always asking for more, but no, enough is enough.

Anyway just to let you know oxsan, you are not alone.

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
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Weedy, it is obvious that Smug and I are kindred spirits as it relates to books. At one time I owned two independent book stores right after I retired from the aerospace industry the first time. My present abode has no more wall space---I have even taken down some of my pictures because books are more important than art. I live alone. Perhaps in part because I was not as fortunate as Smug in finding a reasonable and fairminded woman who would recognize books for what they are---the repository of the the wisdom of the world which alone can serve to teach man to truly appreciate womanhood with all of its virtues. I too leave books lying around. I estimate that I have between 2000 and 3000 books in this house--my son says 4000. My favorite but never ending task is to sort books and shelve them in related ways but I never finish that task.
Don't think that Smug will outgrow his literary tendencies. It is an infection that that increases in virulence with age.Just humour him.

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quote:

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Originally posted by oxsan

7. An unspillable mug

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Registered: Nov 2001
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No, I bought a mug with a top and a little trap door in it that opens when your thumb hits a lever on the handle. It will still leak a few drops when it is turned topsy turvy on the counterpane but is good for car use.

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Registered: Apr 2001
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when i read, i have...a book. the highlighter thing is a good idea, though. because i always read tiny bits that are great and promptly forget them.

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Hey oxsan, I have what I think is an odd habit. When I get a new magazine, I usually start at the back of it and work my way to the front.

I don't know why I do it. I just do.

Amen.

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6. An atlas so I can better imagine myself in the locale of the book.
This is my favorite.
I enjoy reading outdoors.

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Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:

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Originally posted by J E B Stuart
Hey oxsan, I have what I think is an odd habit. When I get a new magazine, I usually start at the back of it and work my way to the front.

I don't know why I do it. I just do.

Amen.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: China
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If I'm lucky, I get an entire pole to myself on the train, so I can hook one elbow around the pole, leaving two free hands to hold a book/magazine and nothing more. I have to lean against the direction of acceleration/deceleration.

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Registered: May 2003
Location: N. Texas
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Oxsan, I believe you store #1 was named the "Bookery" right?

It was a neat little place that seemed more like your personal stash of books than a "for profit" business. I seem to remember (the times I was there with Mugtoe) that you took home a new pile of books every night. Did you ever return all those books to the store?

My own father cursed the fact that I didnt share his love of reading, and swore that I had been switched at birth because I wasnt an avid reader. I do love to read but lean toward Science Fiction, and Biographies.

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I have seen him get a pained look on his face when people purchased used hardbacks from the back room. Those were usually from his own library. Actually, I think he viewed them as still being in his personal library, even though they were at the store.

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Registered: Sep 2000
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The only reference materials I usually have with me when reading are an Atlas and occasionally a copy of The Timetables of History, depending on genre.

I tend to read very voraciously and fall into a sort of trance-like state that doesn't permit much in terms of interruptions.

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
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Yes, both of my bookstores were called The Bookery. One on 6th Street and one on Beltline. Yeah, I took many books home from the store that I never brought back. I much prefer used books anyway, they seem to have more character.

JEB, I once knew a real good lookin' blonde who read magazines backwards like that and she didn't know why she did it either. She was my secretary for 26 years but I never figured out her filing system. She once told me that she filed "everything under 'H' fir 'Human Endeavor'.

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Registered: Sep 2000
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I'm a book addict too. I buy and buy, and read and read. My dad's a fairly big reader, he averages a book a week (Big for America...), but he prefers to get them from the library. I'm wishy washy between fiction and non, though I don't generally go for the scholarly types of journals or the high fiction sorts. I am currently working my way through maybe 12 books, with another even dozen waiting. And I'm heading to the Green Valley Book Fair this week, where I'll pick up another eight or ten :-X

I'll read a chapter here, and then put it down and read something else for awhile, and even my interest in reading waffles depending on other things, like video games and schoolwork.

Anyways, My name is Matt, and I am a reading Whore. Anyways, back to Don Delillo's White Noise (Which I found for 3.99 at Waldenbooks )

Melesse

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quote:

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Originally posted by oxsan
. . . JEB, I once knew a real good lookin' blonde who read magazines backwards like that and she didn't know why she did it either. She was my secretary for 26 years but I never figured out her filing system. She once told me that she filed "everything under 'H' fir 'Human Endeavor'.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Bangor, ME
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I only need a tall glass of tea and cigarettes.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Fiend
I only need a tall glass of tea and cigarettes.

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hehehe

I hate you.

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Registered: Nov 2001
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I normally have from two to six books going at a time although it is not unusual for me to read all day and all night and finish a book almost without putting it down----that doesn't happen as often as it used to however. Before I retired I did a lot oif reading on airplanes. They are not usually well equipped with proper lighting. Maybe that is why I am half blind.

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