So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson

Title: So Many Books, So Little Time
Author: Sara Nelson
ISBN: 0425198197
Publisher: Berkeley Books
Pages: 242
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: 3.5/5


This was one book I started to read right away, because I liked the title and fell in love with the cover. Sara Nelson is a publishing columnist. She is a compulsive reader of books. Here she has described her booking habits, adventures and quirks along with her relationship with her husband, son and books. She tries to make her husband read without much success.

For one who reads like mad, this book connects instantly. Reading habits are very personal. Some of the books interest us the instant we lay our eyes on those. Some we pick up never to read. A few we start and never finish. Then there are books we want to show off to the world and in our privacy we might be reading chick lit or some such light stuff. Sara Nelson has written all about that. For those reason, I think her book is an instant hit with lovers of books.

She has listed her reads throughout the book. She even mentions a few rereads. Her agenda is to read a book a week/52 books per year. She completes it with a few more thrown it. A few she picks up at random. A few others are gifts or recommendations.

She carries books with her. She selects meticulously. She writes with a witty charm, with subtle references. She in a way says nothing that a book lover does not know. Still it makes a pleasurable read because we nod at what she says. We identify with the situations. We relate to certain instances. We do not feel guilty about jumping pages nor about not reading something we have had for years. Not even for never being able to finish Ulysses. When she speaks about books, which are exchanged or recommended between friends, can make or mar a relationship, we are reminded of such instances in our lives. Like her, we too remember what was going in our lives while we were reading a particular book and how rereading gets us to being nostalgic.

This is indeed a book, which one can read once and enjoy. Moreover, happily pass it on to another book lover!