According to the spreadsheet I keep to track my reading, I’m currently reading twelve books. That is too many books to be reading all at once. There is at least one I should just admit I’ve given up on and move over to my Need to Start Over/Abandoned tab—a much less organized tab than my main Reading tab, but an interesting graveyard of intent. (This tab, now that I think about it, will make a good post in and of itself so let’s move on.)
Most of the books I’m ‘currently reading’ are sitting by my bedside. I like have a designated book to read before bed, or, I guess, I like to have eight. (To be clear, I don’t actually like this. Having so many books I’m technically reading makes me feel like I can’t start a fresh one until I’ve finished an old one.) So, for fun, let’s explore why these books remain at my bedside, starting with the oldest one first.
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
I really hate to admit this, but I’ve been reading this book for nearly a year. Not because I don’t like it. Abdurraqib is an incredible writer; he manages to thread pop with political culture, giving his topics a weight and relevance I didn’t expect from essays about Fall Out Boy or Carly Rae Jepsen. (I know better now.) I am the kind of person who obsessively listens to one album or artist for a few months (or, sometimes, years) and doesn’t really branch out. I don’t pay much attention to stuff I’m not already into, so I don’t seek out music writing. Of course I am wrong in this; music writing, like writing on any topic, is informative and transformative in the right hands. Abdurraqib has those hands. His essays are about music, yes, and also about love, death, protest, and what it means to be black in America. These are serious fucking essays. In fact, this is an awful book to read before bed; it’s no wonder I’ve been reading it for so long. This is not a gently-lull-you-to-sleep collection. It’s an incite-fury-and-sadness-and-initiative collection. I’m moving this book from bedside-status to in-my-bag-everywhere-I-go-status.
Down to Business: the First 10 Steps to Entrepreneurship for Women by Clara Villarosa
Oh god, who am I kidding? If I’d weeded out this stack before writing you, we would not be talking about Down to Business. Lucky for you, I prep not, preferring to give you the raw, honest, and weird—an actual look into my reading life. This is a business book, written by a woman who owned The Hue-Man Bookstore. Obviously I started this book because I want to open a bookstore one day. I was hoping it would be a kind of Boss Life for bookselling; but, so far, her focus is more on women becoming entrepreneurs (this should have been obvious to me from the subtitle). Likely more than a little useful to me, if I ever get around to finishing it, but there’s no way I’m going to read it before bed. (What I need is a currently reading shelf. Or the self-control to read just one book at a time. . . . lol, just kidding.)
How to Not Always Be Working by Marlee Grace
Yeah, this one kind of stopped me in my tracks when it asked me to get clear with what my work is. I then realized that everything I do is kind of work? And that felt awkward, so instead of continuing to read the book I thought might help with that, I relegated it to my bedside, which, we are now realizing, is kind of also a graveyard of intent. Who chooses a workbook as bedside reading? Someone who does not want to actually examine their work habits, that’s who. Looks like another one for the Currently Reading shelf.
Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn
You may recognize this one from Issue 07 My Kind of New Years Resolution, written, oh, three months ago. This book is much thicker than I expected when I was just listening to the audiobook. I returned the audiobook when I realized this might be the kind of book I should read, so I can actually pause and do the suggested exercises. So I purchased a used copy at Third Place Books back in January. I have not (why must you make me admit this) picked it up since. Once again, clearly, not a good bedtime book.
So, what have we learned? Well, I don’t actually use my bedside to store books I want to read at bedtime. Or, rather, I don’t always use it that way. Next time I write about this (note the “part one” in the title) we will cover books that have been beside my bed for slightly less time and really are designated bedtime reading, or were before the next book arrived and pushed them down the pile.
I am curious about others bedside book piles now. Are these bedtime-only books? Do you have another place where you keep your currently-reading? Or perhaps you are a sane person and don’t require an entire shelf for the books you’re in the middle of? Let me know.
Currently Reading (no, really)
Dreyer’s English by Benjamin Dreyer
I’m actually reading this book on my cell phone (using an app called Moon+ Reader). Instead of playing mindless games, scrolling through Twitter, or actually enjoying my surroundings when I am out and about, I can now read. (I mean, I could always read, but my habit is to look at my phone, so now I am trying to harness that habit for good.) I started this because my boss was reading it and either said I’d like it or it made her think of me (can’t remember). Either way, I was thinking, as someone who copy edits and bosses other copy editors around four times a year (at least, four times a year for money) I would probably benefit from a book by a copy editor. And it’s really good so far! Dreyer has a wonderful sense of humor, a no-nonsense attitude, and a love for the Oxford (or, as he calls it, “series”) comma.
Other Ways to Find Me On the Internets
Once a month (or so) I host a podcast called Drunk Booksellers where my best friend and I interview a fellow bookseller while drinking. I sometimes tweet about books and politics. I sometimes post pictures of books I’m reading, or cats I’m hanging out with on Instagram.
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