This book was fun, as much about reading as about the books being read. e.g., Nelson will write about skipping around in a book, then quote all her friends who perform different variations of skipping around in books, then reflect on why people would or wouldn’t skip around. This book is one of those “I wish I’d thought of that” books (writing a book about reading a book a week? I could have done that! Except that I’m sure it’s much more difficult than it looks). I added to my “books to read” list in the process of reading it.

Rating: 3*/5

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.

I am thinking I’ll get a little brass plague made: This fodder for hours of reading pleasure made possible by a generous Kristina grant. I’ll put the plaque on big shelf that will house the books Kristina has given me. It is fitting that one of those books was So Many Books So Little Time. Sara Nelson begins her book with a description of the bookshelves made by her husband for her own extensive collection of books.
Sara set herself the task of reading a book a week for a year and writing about it. It sounded like an interesting project. I mentioned the book to Kristina and she bought me the book, which I tossed on the pile and forgot about until I saw Sara on Book TV last weekend.
When I first began to read I felt like I’d met a new friend, someone who shares my love of reading and has the need for a pile of books in every room. Some one like Kristina. And I enjoyed most of it. By the end I felt like I had gotten to know Sara, her husband, her son and a few of her friends. And I have a book list that is now greatly expanded.
But Sara and I read differently. Nowhere was that more apparent than in a chapter she writes about Anthony Bourdain’s book Kitchen Confidential. As it turns out Sara was “the chubby daughter of an extremely weight-conscious mother.” She says it her relationship with food is fraught with trauma. Her fat phobia in this chapter made my head hurt. She is funny. And self-aware enough to know that she lacks perspective in this area. She goes on to write about Bourdain and his bad boy toughness. I still haven’t read Kitchen Confidential. No particular reason. In part I feel like I don’t need some arrogant man telling me about what it’s like to work in a kitchen. I’ve lived that book. But if I owned the book I would eventually read it.
Maybe I need to call Kristine.
If I let fat phobia scare me off I’d hardly have anything to read. Sara reads more fiction than I do. So we might not be the best of friends but I did enjoy most of her musings on the life of a reader.

Am I the only one who thinks reading one book a week is no big deal? I frequently read a book a day, while going to grad school full time and teaching unruly midddle schoolers.