To begin at the beginning
Just like most people who decide to start book blogs, I have always loved to read. I read at an unstoppable pace when I was little, continued right the way through primary school, secondary school and sixth form college before coming to a near complete stop when I started my English degree. Suddenly, I was reading so many novels and plays and poems to study that I no longer had time to read for pleasure. The same was true when I moved on to study medieval literature, although I did read a little more than before, purely for the relief of reading something in modern English.
Recently, the acquisition of a real, proper, full time job has provided me with four hours every day on the train travelling between where I live and the delightful place that is central London, where I work. Although most people think I am insane not to move closer to work, those four hours provide me with an ideal opportunity for reading again. What better way to distract oneself from being slowly crushed by the snoring man encroaching on ones seat – and indeed lap — or from being squashed up against the armpit of a fragrant commuter on the tube than to to escape into a book?
This blog will be a document of the books I read: what I think of them, where and why I bought them, and what will be their fate once they have been read. It will also follow my attempts to reduce my towering To Be Read Stack to a manageable amount as, since signing myself up to LibraryThing and finally cataloguing at least all of my non-academic books, I have discovered that I have 460 unread books. At my current rate of reading (about 15 books a month) that’s enough to keep me going for around two and a half years, so I expect I’ll be here for some time.
4 Responses to “To begin at the beginning”
Comment from oldenglishrose
Time August 22, 2010 at 11:00 pm
Thank you very much for leaving a comment, and for the good wishes for conquering the TBR pile. It’s a bit nerve-wracking starting out, so it’s lovely to see that people are reading this.
Comment from Velma Fitzgerald
Time August 26, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Picked up on your blog curtesy of LT. As a fellow member I can certainly sympathize with your dismay (delight?) at adding books to your TBR. I haven’t counted, but I bet my TBR is bigger than yours. *chuckles* Enjoying your blog! Thanks for letting me lurk.
Comment from oldenglishrose
Time August 26, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Thank you very much for dropping by and leaving a comment. It’s particularly good to know that my TBR pile isn’t too bad (at least in book addict terms).
Comment from Lesa
Time August 22, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Hi–just spotted your blog in the IMM linkup. Those four reading hours are precious– I completely understand choosing commuting over moving.
460! Wow– I’ve thought of intentially reading my way through my TBR mountain but you have a Mount Everest to tackle! Good luck with your endeavor!