The NY Times Book Review recently featured what it called, The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. That’s so far, of course. There’s a lot of century left. But as well read as I feel I am, I noted I had read just a fraction of the 100 deemed “best.”
Odd bodkin, I thought. Scanning the enthusiastic descriptions by writers, critics and book lovers of the selected tomes I puzzled over why I hadn’t read more. I certainly have had time over a lifetime of reading, and especially since retirement.
Then it dawned on me.
I’m a peruser of library shelves. The vast majority of books I read come regularly from looking at the latest acquisitions at libraries. Some books come my way via recommendations from amigos, too. But it’s all serendipity. Traditional book reviews – often long-winded and/or written in archly academic language rarely grab me. I need to read a few pages of a book to get interested.
This often results in walking out of the library hefting a half-dozen books – or more. Not all get read fully. But each has intrigued me sufficiently to take it home for a closer look. I recently checked out six books including the The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde’s classic was on the new book shelf because it’s a local book group’s selection for this month. After 10 pages of difficult reading, it went into the return-to-the-library pile. Then I picked up Generative Artificial Intelligence: What everyone needs to know.
And the other four? Self Defense for Dummies, The Horse: A galloping history of humanity, My Mamma, Cass: A memoir (by Cass Elliot’s daughter) and Keeping The Faith: God, Democracy and the Trial that Riveted a Nation (a book about the Scopes Trial).
It’s undoubtedly a lot easier to look online for the New York Times book lists, and Goodreads, and Amazon books. But getting up and out of the house, making a destination with the library, having spontaneous conversations with librarians and library users are all part of the curiosity muscle we can exercise in the world of Dynamic Aging.
Especially since my reading and interests are eclectic, which is why it’s so much fun scanning the library shelves. A quick look at the artificial intelligence book already gave me several nuggets of useful information about AI. Ditto for the self-defense tome. The Scopes Trial book is a gold mine, describing the struggle between science and religion from a century ago. It’s a lot like what’s happening in the U.S. today. I am having trouble putting it down, as I weigh whether it’s time to drop in at the library again today.
Maybe I’ll see you there?
by Michael J. Fitzgerald
Michael J. Fitzgerald is an editor with Dynamic Aging 4 Life magazine. In 2023, he celebrated 50 years as a professional journalist and writer. He writes a weekly column titled “Write On” for the daily Finger Lakes Times newspaper in Geneva, NY. He is also an editor and writer with the Richmond Pulse newspaper in Richmond, California.
Originally a native New Yorker, Michael retired as a professor of journalism from California State University, Sacramento. He and his wife Sylvia Fox sailed their yacht Sabbatical to Mexico where they lived for almost a decade. Michael currently resides in Oregon, living in a floating home on a tributary of the Willamette River near Portland.
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