Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. --Francis Bacon

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During my thirty years in public libraries, new acquaintances often said things like, "Oh, it must be wonderful to work in a library -- all those books, and you can read all the time!" To which the response of any experienced librarian would be: "HAH!"

When I retired a couple of years ago, it was with the realization that I was waaaaaaaaay behind in my serious reading. There were dozens of Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning novels I had never even opened. There were stacks of volumes of history and biography I hadn't cracked. And I felt guilty about that, as any true book-oriented person is likely to do.

I read reviews all the time, of course, in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Choice, and the other library-professional publications, with a view to ordering a title for the library (or not). That's called "collection development," and, for me, it was one of the most enjoyable parts of being a librarian. As least, it was when the budget was healthy. But I never read cover-to-cover very many of the books I bought. I never had time, being more involved in reader's advisory and reference work, staff scheduling, helping to plan the library's new Public Access Catalog computer system, clipping the daily papers for the Vertical File, reading library science journal articles and summarizing them for others, compiling bibliographies and suggested-reading lists for special events and holidays, . . . in other words, all the many things for which I was being paid, and which did not include reading for pleasure. Because that's what librarians really do!

So, one of the first things I began doing, on an almost daily basis, was to read reviews: New York Times Book Review, New York Review of Books, San Francisco Review, Book Magazine, and even the readers' reviews at Amazon.com. I also hang out frequently at Salon.com -- especially the "Book Bag" section. (I love to peruse other people's lists of books.) A large proportion of my Franklin planner was converted from things-I-have-to-do-at-work to books-I-must-read.

A lot of those books, naturally, I check out of the library -- but since I moved away from the Big City after retirement to a much smaller (but much more comfortable and manageable) city, the local library, while quite good for the size of the population, still is nothing like the enormous collection I had everyday access to. Besides, there's something about actually owning a book, seeing it waiting quietly on the shelf until you're in the proper frame of mind to read it, so I've also been buying quite a few books -- mostly used, both locally (I also love used-book stores) and on eBay. There're about fifty of them on the "To Read" shelf now, so I have my work cut out for me for some time to come. Of course, I plan to go on reading a lot of other stuff as well: Science fiction and archaeology and Civil War history and typography and books on writing and QuentinTarantino screenplays and all the other subjects that interest me. And I keep reading reviews and I keep adding to my lists. I hope I live another fifty years!

I have a taste for odd-ball funny stuff, too. Take a look at 30 Fun Things To Do While Driving.

I also have long collected quotations and aphorisms, especially short, pithy expressions of universal truths and curmudgeonly comments on human culture. Before taglines, there were buttons and bumper stickers, and I have several hundred of both, stuffed into half a dozen shoeboxes. (I used to go to a lot of science fiction cons.) Brevity is the soul of wit, they say. A well-written essay can be like a multi-course meal, but a well-honed aphorism -- or tagline -- is more like an ice-cold shot of vodka.

I'm always on the look-out for new candidates for my collection, so if you have one you think I might like, feel free to email it to me!

Please direct comments and inquiries to: Michael K. Smith

©1999-2002 Michael K. Smith
All rights reserved
Last revised 9/12/2002