Reading Randomly

Over two millennia ago, Julius Caesar wisely said "A room without books is like a body without a soul." We don't have books in every single room in our house, but almost. Which I guess means that our house definitely has soul. 

I've often sheepishly said that I'm incapable of leaving a bookstore empty-handed.  So our house has a "real library," crammed with books that we've read and can't bear to part with. And then I have my "aspirational" library, scattered around the house, populated with books that I haven't yet read. Seeing them often fills me with a combination of guilt and embarrassment. But now I've discovered that my affliction is common around the world and has a wonderful Japanese name: Tsundoku.

One of my COVID-19 projects has been to tame my Tsundoku. I've collected unread books from around our house, alphabetized the fiction by author, and loosely categorized the non-fiction by topic. They are now neatly arranged on a bookshelf in my office, beckoning me to read them. They feel delightfully aspirational, and because the library is closed, they aren't competing for attention with my equally aspirational library reserve list.

Next problem. What to read first? Alphabetical order makes me cringe -- too pedestrian. Closing my eyes and pointing feels too childish for my aspirational library.  No eenie meenie or pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey for my Tsundoku. Then the geek in me had an aha moment. Random number generator. And Mr. Google quickly delivered just what I needed. With a click of my mouse, I spun the metaphorical dial and now find myself reading Angela's Ashes by Frank McCord.

As a final note, many of the entries in my Tsundoku are a mystery to me, meaning I have no memory of when I bought them or who recommended them. But so far, I'm glad that Angela's Ashes ended up on my shelf.