A Miasma of Books

I did a foolish thing.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I've done many foolish things, including driving on the sidewalk (thanks for reminding me of that, Mom) and singing karaoke. But the specific incident to which I am now referring is when, at the beginning of the year, I heard of the challenge of reading 50 books in 2005.

"Sounds fun!" I thought. I'm a dedicated reader--voracious, even, some might say. I knew reading 50 books in a year would be no problem. But I thought it would be fun to keep track of what I've read and also see just how many books I do read per annum, so as to drop the astonishing number into casual conversation. "Actually, I found Proust quite entertaining. When I read 160 books last year, he was one of my faves."

Um, no. Not quite how it has worked out. There's now only three days left in November and I still need to read 9 more books. Since it's taken me 47 weeks to read 41 books, that means I average .87 books per week. On my usual pace, by the end of the year I'll have read 3.48 more books. That's just not going to cut it. I need to cram in 2.25 books per week, including this week.

Not only that, but I feel pressure to read Books. Since I've actually recorded the titles and authors of the books I have managed to finish, I can't lie to myself and pretend that I've been slow because all of the books were weighty tomes on solving the world's problems or the dilemma of reaching for the American dream. There it is in black and white: I read children's literature and romances. And a handful of other, more literarily-challenging books every now and again. But by and large, my selections have been brain candy. And I'm still significantly behind schedule.

The final hurdle: I'm picky. I'm a word nerd. And if an author has typos, uses the same words/phrases too many times, etc., I get annoyed and put the book down. I'll still usually finish it, but it will take me longer (also contributing to my dilemma, I'm sure). Over Thanksgiving, I was reading a short novel that was highly amusing. I was pleasantly surprised to find the word "miasma" appear on page 60ish. It's one of my favorite words, being so descriptive and fun to say (although difficult to work into conversation, unless you live in a foggy, polluted place).

But then it appeared again around page 100. And with increasing frequency--miasmic on page 124, and I put the book down when a miasmi popped up again on page 136. Please! If you use a specific word like that, it must be used sparingly or else it loses all effect.

So, what are the chances I'll finish 9 books in the next 4 weeks? And how many of them will be children's books? To the former, I give it an 87% chance. I'm feeling optimistic. To the latter: at least one, because I now have book 10 of the Lemony Snicket series in my possession. But if time's getting seriously tight, expect to see Amelia Bedelia and novellas like Holidays on Ice on the list. If you know of any short, quick reads, I'm open to suggestions!