"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Bookish (and not so bookish) thoughts

This coming week I turn 61. Let's pretend that I live to the life expectancy of an American woman which is 81.1 years. Give or take a month, that means I have a likely twenty more years to live. Now let's also say that I keep to a rather rigorous reading level of 100 books per year on the average. That means I have only, hang on while I do the math, 2010 more books to read in my lifetime. 2010. That is all.

My age: 61

Average life expectancy of US females: 81.1

Average number of books I read per year: 100

Doing the math: 81.1-61=20.1 number of years expected to live

20.1 x 100= 2010 books left to read


With that thought in mind it is time I get really picky about the books I choose to spend time reading:
Boring? Ditch it.  
Poorly written? Forget it. 
A classic but super long? Consider the abridged version. 
Everyone is reading it but it is not my style? Who cares? Don't read it.

I mean it folks. The number of books I have time left to read is finite. I will be choosing wisely as I move forward.

Protecting a library with book curses found in medieval documents
Highlighted from this article

"May the sword of anathema slay
If anyone steals this book away." 

“If anyone take away this book, let him die the death; let him be fried in a pan; let the falling sickness and fever size him; let him be broken on the wheel, and hanged. Amen.”

“May whoever steals or alienates this book, or mutilates it, be cut off from the body of the church and held as a thing accursed.”

Pretty serious stuff.  Think again if you plan on stealing a book! Ha!




7 comments:

  1. I agree. Life is too short to read bad books. I will finish books for Book Club, even if I don't like them, because I do enjoy the discussion and want to participate in it. But otherwise, no. :)

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  2. Hi Anne, I hope you a very happy birthday this week! You plenty of wonderful books left ahead. Enjoy.

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  3. I think this approach to books is the right kind for everyone. There really are too many good books out there to spend time on terrible ones. Happy birthday!

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  4. I did a calculation like that about how many books could fit on a kindle compared to the number I’m likely to read in my remaining years. I concluded that if I knew what books I was going to read (ignoring the fact that some of them haven’t been published yet) I could fit them all on a kindle. I think you could too. Funny thing.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  5. It's so strange to think we have a finite number of books left to read! I don't think I can think in those terms yet. But just think, if you live longer (which I assume you will) you get "bonus" books! I am with you on the moving on from books that aren't good or just don't work for you. No guilt!

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  6. Wow, that is some dark birthday thinking! Maybe you'll live to 101 and have twice that many books left! That's what I wish for you, my friend...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

    Sue

    Book By Book

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  7. Haha, I try really hard not to think about how few books I'll be able to read in a lifetime! It makes picking a book too daunting a task for me.

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