Literary Mainlining

I told myself I was actually going to read less in 2015 than the previous year. Quality over quantity. That I was going to use the time I wasn’t reading to be more creative (writing, art, etc.). And so I find myself in December with 11 books going at once. Why, yes, that does sound ridiculous. I’m not sure I’ve ever had more than six going at once (see post about Reading as a Mental Barometer). Obviously, you can’t read 11 books at the same time, so what this means is that I’ll pick up one and read a chapter; pick up another and read a short story; pick up the next and complete a section; etc. Normally, this might be a bad sign, but it’s actually well-suited to reading in shorter bursts and I’m finding it’s easier to remember what’s going on because I’m forced to differentiate among the books and recall where I last stopped. I blame the library–it’s like an institutional dope pusher constantly handing out free samples. Certainly, there are more debilitating addictions to have…

I’m currently strung out on The Brunists Day of Wrath (Robert Coover), Killing & Dying (Adrian Tomine), This Book Will Save Your Life (AM Homes), The Wolfman & Other Cases (Sigmund Freud), Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism & Schizophrenia (Deleuze), Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos Vol. 1 (HP Lovecraft & Others), Buddhism without Beliefs (Stephen Batchelor), Numbers in the Dark & Other Stories (Italo Calvino), My Life in Heavy Metal (Steve Almond), One Rainy Day in May, The Familiar Vol. 1 (Mark Z. Danielewski), and The Best American Short Stories 2001 (I keep this one in the car and read it at stop lights, traffic jams, waiting for carryout, etc.).