Whether it’s just a few volumes that you couldn’t resist or a formidable tower threatening to topple over and crush you with its wordy weight, there’s actually a name for your pile of unread books: tsundoku. This Japanese neologism describes the habit—some would say admirable, others would say pathological—of accumulating books that may never actually be read. The term is a playful mash-up of words that wonderfully describe the habit: tsunde (to stack things), oku (to leave for a while), and doku (to read). Roughly translated, the combination denotes a pile of printed procrastination. Some would argue that, read or unread, tsundoku. is a noble pursuit because well-designed books are objects of beauty in and of themselves. But if you do get around to reading that deluxe edition of Moby Dick that’s been adrift in the tsundoku doldrums for 12 years, just be careful if it’s at the bottom of the stack.
“I just finished Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman, the final book in a series which starts off as a darker, more grownup up version of wizard school a la Harry Potter. It’s great because it allows me to continue my life long fantasy of the magical life that was STOLEN FROM ME.”
“Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. I remember walking into my college bookstore freshman year, reading the first paragraph, falling in love with it, and immediately deciding Henry Miller was my favorite author ever. Years later, and after reading every single book (both fiction and non-fiction) that Miller ever wrote – and he wrote a lot – it still holds true. Actually, just over Labor Day, I visited the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, which was like a pilgrimage for me.”
“It’s a tie between A Tale of Two Cities (the first book that really sucked me in; it made me love reading) and Prince of Tides. (I have no idea why I love this book. I just do. Every time I put it down I wanted to pick it back up.)”
“Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris—sums up how I feel before my morning coffee!”
