So Many Books, So Little Time!
I recently learned that this Sunday, September 6, has been designated as National Read-a-Book Day. I don't have to be reminded to read books, but I'm so busy reading generally in my researching and writing that I sometimes find it hard to read an entire book.
This year has been especially difficult with multiple projects and responsibilities overflowing my calendar, and I've fallen far behind my normal reading pace, by which I would regularly get 25 or 30 books read during the year. This year, I've been especially focused on several research projects. I've done a lot of reading but not of complete books. I've been so busy that I've even had difficulty keeping up with my email and ezine reading.
I've tried to reduce the number of other things I have to read. I've allowed most of my paper magazine subscriptions to expire. I've opted out of many ezines. I've been forced to ignore others. ("I'll get to them in a day or two," I tell myself, yet I never do, and I find myself deleting them unread just to clear out my in box.
I have managed to read 13 books so far this year, most of them associated with the research I happened to be doing at the time. Here are a few of them:
The Arsenal of Democracy by A.J. Baine--How American industry helped win World War II
Contents of a World War II Footlocker by General Brackman--This I read because Brackman commanded units that included my Uncle Dillon's 391st Armored Field Artillery Battalion, about which I wrote in Dillon's War.
The Immigrant and the Outlaw by Joy Neal Kidney--This is the latest of her memories-packed works.
War on the Border by Jeff Guinn--This was purely pleasure reading about Pershing's efforts to capture Poncho Villa.
Climb to Conquer by Peter Shelton--This book is about the 10th Mountain Division in World War II. One of my cousins served in that unit.
Perhaps the most enjoyable book I've read so far this year, however, is George Washington Carver: In His Own Words. It reveals not only a man dedicated to plant studies, most famously his study of the many practical uses of the humble peanut, but also a man concerned about the character development and lives of his students, both during and after their education. One can't help wondering, after reading this collection of Carver's letters, why he, rather than ego-centric athletes, actors, and rock stars, isn't being presented as an exemplar for young people today.
I hope in the last four months of the year to read more books. I certainly have many in my "to-be-read" stack. Among them are two that related to my research and writing: The Normandy Campaign by Victor Brooks because it includes information about my Uncle Dillon's unit and Remount Blue by David Brower because it is about the 3rd Battalion, 86th Mountain Infantry, a unit within the 10th Mountain Division, which was the unit of a cousin.
I'm never without some kind of reading material, so I don't have to have a "national day" set aside to encourage me to read. When I was a kid and had to go to work with my father, I always had a book handy to read when the mortar and brick boards were well supplied and I had a few spare minutes. I often would read aloud to Daddy sections that I found especially interesting. It didn't take long for him to tire of my "sharing," and he'd tell me to shut up and get back to work.
Labor Day is coming up on September 7, but Daddy wasn't a pro-union mason. He was strictly independent and believed in working, especially on Labor Day. Reading, to him, wasn't as important as laboring, so I had to set aside my book, at least for a while. Lunch break wasn't just for eating; I used it to both eat and read.
It seems that I have so many books to read but so little time to read them all.
I hope there'll be libraries in heaven. Then I'll have all eternity to indulge in reading!
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