Reread

So for whatever reason, I just floundered my way onto Steven Brust's webpage, dreamcafe.com. It has been a long time since he published a Vlad Taltos novel, and I was pleased to see (not on the site, but in a link from it), that another will come out in 2023, followed soon by one more. As you may have read if you've been mad enough to follow this blog, Brust has been a writer I have followed since my very early adult years, and I love his work.

The reason for this post though, is rereading. Over the years, my book collection has waxed and waned - occasionally being enormous, and sometimes being culled to near nothing. When younger I had ever King, Koontz, Cussler and a few other pulp fiction writers' books, plus a plethora of non-fiction - largely in the forbidden archaeology / UFO / paranormal space. 

This is the cover for a book called Behold A Pale Horse, an early whistle-blower work published in 1991, about things apparently seen by a former US government employee while working on top-secret bases. You know, UFO's, dead aliens, recovered technology, cover-ups, all that fun stuff. My old mate Luke told me all about it, as well as numerous other books, when we worked together in the late 90's. I ended up buying a lot of those books, as well as many others - most of which I no longer own. The horse book was a good example of my issues with book collecting and reading, because before I donated it, I carried it around the world on various moves, never opening it even once. This is a bit of a theme for me. I'm either all-in or not at all it would seem. Brust, King, Cussler, Bryson, Winchester, and a few others, well I am sure to read them cover to cover. I read a lot of Graham Hancock, namely Fingerprints of the Gods, around this time too. It was him and the work of a few others actually, that made me come to the belief that while I think aliens exist, they are unlikely to be visiting Earth, so all of the UFO is likely BS. In terms of the forbidden archaeology stuff, well it reaffirmed my belief that ancient humans, rather than aliens, are responsible for many of the anomalies around the world, such as how the pyramids were built to such precision.

So in that, I guess I kind of lost my mojo when it comes to collecting these works. That was part of the problem. The other part of the problem is the time I have, or dedicate, to reading these days. Alas it just is not very much. So much so that I have or had, built up a collection of almost 50 books that I have not read yet! Plus all those I have and decided to keep. So over the last three years, I have been steadily donating my books - the only ones I have been keeping are my Brust, Bryson, Winchester collections, plus a few others, notably The Martian, Ready Player One, plus a core group of my old ancient history series. I went from thinking it was grand to essentially collect and curate my own library, to wanting to not have my books be a burden - especially given it is unlikely I will read most of them again!

That's the crux of the matter isn't it? What books do I have that I want to read again? 

The answer is pretty simple really - only my Brust collection. Plus a handful of others (Martian etc.). 

So what do I do with the rest? And when am I going to start rereading? Do I want to get through the Taltos series again in my lifetime? You bet I do. I want to read it all. So why can I not find the time? Maybe it has to do with the noise factor in our household - those boys are relentless. I'm really not sure how to approach this. And hey, I have donated a heap of unread books over the time too, keeping only those I am determined to get through at some point. My wife has rubbed off on me a bit, because as I age, I am tending towards the minimalist path, and trying to shed stuff that really doesn't have a whole lot of meaning. I keep looking at the boxes of Lego on my top shelf, that I want to put back together as sets and sell, yet year after year, on the shelf they remain. Perhaps I should either donate them, or let the boys have them. 

Reading. It truly is a joy, like listening to music. And just like that pastime, you need to make the time to enjoy it. What it can do for your mind, your soul, and yes even your body, is immense. I need to start figuring this into my personal time management. Watch this space.