Living overseas in non-English speaking countries, I tend to stock up on books whenever I’m back in the US. Usually I start my Amazon order as soon as the school year starts (August/September), adding books for months, before I finally purchase sometime in May, scheduled to arrive at my parents’ house just in time for my annual visit. Of course, this monster order fluctuates throughout the year because I can usually find some of the more popular books here in my favorite bookstore, Kinokuniya.

All of this stockpiling usually leads to a heavy bookshelf (or two) bulging with books waiting to be read throughout the year. Unfortunately, I almost never get through all of them in one school year, but I love seeing them there, waiting to be read, so that when I finally have my chance, I’m usually so excited I devour them in days (most likely when we’re lounging at the beach during holidays).

As usual, I have a selection of books on display again this school year, a few of which I’ve been able to read during holidays, but many are still waiting for the perfect moment. Here are some highlights of what I’ve got on the shelf:

On the Shelf

I’ve got a few more on another shelf I’m anxious to read as well:

So, you can imagine how pleased I was to read the following on the very first page of The Black Swan:

The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with “Wow! Signore professore dottore Eco, what a library you have! How many of those books have you read?” and the others – a very small minority – who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market will allow you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books.

What’s on your shelf?

0 thoughts on “On the Shelf

  1. I think everyone should have a list of books on a “To Do” list. To me, books are like my stamp collection and even if I don’t get to them all right away it is fun just to look at them.

  2. I too am obsessed with books and often have a waiting list or cue of books waiting patiently while I make my way through the pile. That is why it is so hard for me to follow recommendations from people, “Don’t they understand that I still have about ten book before I can even consider reading their rec?”

    Sometimes a book or two will enter the fray and jump the line. I have a few titles that have stayed at the end of the cue for a very long time now, but here is a list of the current line up:

    Currently reading: Standard Operating Procedure (Abu Graib)

    Will read soon:

    The Mayor of Castro Street (Harvey Milk)
    Catch A Fire (Bob Marely)
    Getting Our Breath Back ( A girl I went to Peace Corp with wrote it)
    The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World (Twitter Rec)
    Democracy and Education (John Dewey)

    There are a few on your list that perked my interest as well:

    Knowing Knowledge by George Siemens
    Outliers by Malcom Gladwell

    I would highly recommend the Klein book Shock Doctrine it is intense and insightful.

  3. That looks like a nice big list of books to dive into and a couple of those I’ll have to add to my Amazon wish list as well. Currently looking at a stack of books that includes:

    The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes
    Convergence Culture
    Designing Interactions by Bill Moggridge
    The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
    Facilitating Online Learning by Collison, et al
    Drupal for Education and E-Learning by Bill Fitzgerald
    Learn Objective-C on the Mac
    Beginning iPhone Development
    Learning Pythong

    The latter 3 are mostly related to the fact that I want to develop ed apps for the iPhone.

    Thanks for pointing me in the direction of some new books :)

  4. @Ed,

    I totally agree! I love looking at the books on my shelves – makes me happy to know they’re there, waiting to be read!

    @Jabiz,

    I love looking at your list of books to read. They are so Jabiz :) I also love seeing where our books overlap – can’t wait to read Shock Doctrine. Am now just wishing I had an iPhone back then so I don’t have to carry around the monster paperback edition I bought…

    @Doug,

    No problem! Thank you for the reminder!

    @Chris,

    Thanks for your list! I’m going to have to add some of these to my summer Amazon order!

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