5 good books I fear I may never read
The Depression-era farm of my late father鈥檚 youth was fueled by firewood, so the ability to see winter through was measured in cords.
A cord of firewood is four feet high by four feet wide by eight feet long. That鈥檚 a lot of wood, although I don鈥檛 know how long it lasts during a cold season on a rural Louisiana homestead where the hearth and cooking stove consume logs from daylight through dusk. It鈥檚 a question I don鈥檛 feel pressed to answer, since I鈥檓 writing this from my living room in these closing days of the year, the place warmed by a gas furnace in the attic.
But it occurred to me, before going to bed the other night, that I鈥檓 getting through winter on a cord of my own 鈥� the huge stack of unread books near my nightstand. I read books for both pleasure and professional obligation, but they accumulate more quickly than I can get to them. I鈥檝e just extended a measuring tape across my book stack, so I can tell you that it鈥檚 two feet high and nearly four feet long. That鈥檚 not a cord, I know, but I also know that many other unread books rest elsewhere in the house, on various shelves and tables. I bet there鈥檚 a cord of unread stuff around here, maybe more.
Some of the books will never be read, at least not by me. I鈥檒l donate them to some worthy cause, or 鈥� if the precedent set by my late relatives is any indication 鈥� some descendant of mine will deal with them when I鈥檓 gone.
It can be sobering for a book lover to think of carrying the solemn weight of all those books into another year, but there鈥檚 comfort in it, too. No matter how long this winter is, I know that I鈥檒l never run out of something to read.
Here are five books from my yet-to-be-read stack. I can鈥檛 recommend them, exactly 鈥� I haven鈥檛, after all, read them 鈥� but they look promising. See what you think:
1) 鈥淪mall Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace鈥� by Anne Lamott (Riverhead Books, 304 pages, $22.95). More reflections on everyday spirituality from the author of 鈥淪titches鈥� and 鈥淏ird by Bird.鈥� It鈥檚 disgraceful that I haven鈥檛 made time to read this book, but I plan to do it soon.
2)聽 鈥淥n Paper: The Everything of Its Two-Thousand-Year History鈥� by Nicholas A. Basbanes (Knopf, 430 pages, $35). Basbanes, who describes himself as a 鈥渟elf-confessed bibliophile,鈥� surveys the story of the paper we use for books and letters. Basbane鈥檚 celebration of the traditional book seems like something I鈥檇 like.
3)聽 鈥淭he 40s: The Story of A Decade: The New Yorker.鈥� (Random House, 696 pages, $30.) An anthology of material from the magazine鈥檚 best writers during a momentous decade. What鈥檚 not to like?
4)聽 鈥淢oments of Being: A Collection of Autobiographical Writing鈥� by Virginia Woolf (Harcourt, 230 pages, $14). A little book I picked up at a rummage sale. I love Woolf鈥檚 perfect sentences, but this book contains some of her unpublished stuff, still in draft form. Maybe there鈥檚 insight here into how Woolf made her prose so flawless.
5)聽 鈥淭alk Show鈥� by Dick Cavett. (Times Books, 279 pages, $25). The famed talk show host鈥檚 collection of essays from his endlessly chatty online column for The New York Times. The pieces are short enough to be polished off like bon-bons. What am I waiting for? Here鈥檚 hoping for a happy 2015 for bibliophiles everywhere 鈥� and more time to read.
