Tsundoku

I just love, love, love BOOKS! Frankly, ashamedly, not the classics so much – wish I understood why – but mostly newly published stuff. I buy them from Amazon (for lack of a local bookstore) – hard copies, so I can smell the paper and hear that soft card-shuffling rhythm as I thumb through the pages and feel that subtle arching sound a brand new hardback spine makes when I open it the first time. No Kindle or Audiobooks for me. But here’s the thing, the zinger, the stinger: I don’t read books anymore! Why? Because the internet kidnapped my reading eye! SO much to read daily – news, blogs, tweets, social media rants. I stay informed, alert, in the now, in the know. (Well, unless it’s something Kardashian or whatever.)

Many of you read me here because of Remi/Judy/LifeLessons blog. She’s been without internet most of the last two days, and she related tonight to me by telephone (how quaint!) how much she’s accomplished these last two days while free of the internet tether. I mentioned to her that I should just get myself arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison (solitary confinement, thank you) so that I can spend a year or two reading my purchased but unread pile of books. That’s what triggered this blog post. Well, that and an essay I read in the New York Times.

I read this wonderful essay, “How Bibliophiles Flirt” awhile back, and it fits me SO well. (And I bet it fits several of you as well.) Some of you may not know that the “okc” in “okcforgottenman” does not indicate I’m in/from Oklahoma City. It means I started this blog as an extension of my profile on OkCupid. (That’s a dating site, if you’re not aware. I’m known as forgottenman there, but thank your lucky stars that you can’t see my bloviated profile there unless you’re already a member.) Oh, if you haven’t read that essay yet, it’s about an OkCupid relationship. That’s why I mention my interest.

So, have you paused reading here to read about how bibliophiles flirt? If so, you have found my new third-favorite word: tsundoku. (My second-favorite word is “penultimate”.) I have brashly (drunkenly?) decided to share my tsundoku list with y’all, by photograph herein. I’m fascinated that I can’t figure out whether I should be ashamed of not having read these acquisitions, or honored/proud to have them on my shelf. I love such quandaries!

You can click on the photos below to get a larger view. But why?

For what it’s worth, here’s a short shelf of some of my favorite reads from the last several years:

Anyone else out there want to share the shame/honor of your tsundoku list?