The premise of this book is that it’s the chronicle of a year in the life of a passionate reader. Sara Nelson set out at the beginning of 2002 to read a book a week and chronicle her thoughts on each one. And, pretty much, she does accomplish this. Her stated goal is to do more than just this, though; her desire was to observe the reading process and the ways books intersect with our lives. And those observations are exactly what I liked about this book.

I enjoyed the way Nelson mentions various reading quirks that I often see in myself—like “double-booking,” and the aversion to re-reading (when there is the guilt of so many unread books looming overhead). Also, the way we have “public books,” you know…the ones that you’re proud of reading, so you’re more apt to let yourself be seen reading them. Unlike guilty pleasures like Good in Bed and Bridget Jones’ Diary, both of which I read at home on the weekend.

I really liked So Many Books, even though I realized that Nelson’s and my own taste in books probably don’t intersect too much. Nelson says, “If a particular book I mention makes you want to head off to the nearest bookstore, great; if not, maybe what I say about it will spark a memory or suggest a topic that seems honest or interesting or true” (7). And, it did. That’s what I love about books and talking about books—the springboard effect. Books can bring up common experiences and ideas, and provide ways for us to connect with each other personally, as well as through discussion of the book itself. And you don’t always have to have read a book to be able to have a conversation about it.