Hopping on the Book Stack Train

For just about as long as I could read, I’ve been a voracious reader. I don’t know if it’s a cause of my life-long insomnia or a reaction to it, but I’ve been staying up reading all night for as long as I can remember. Or maybe it’s because I didn’t have cable television growing up.

But I probably picked it up from my mom, herself an avid reader who used to drag my sister and I to the library every week while all the other kids watched their fancy-pants cable TV.

(I should write more on that library one day. It’s pretty kick-ass)

In second or third grade I was put in a fifth grade reading group, because I was always so far ahead of everyone else on the assigned reading. I used to try and read one book a night as a kid, every night. I had (and still do, though less intense) an almost overwhelming sense of intimidation, wanting to read every single book and knowing there’s no way possible for that to ever happen.

But that didn’t stop me from trying, and I got in the habit of reading multiple books at a time. Which brings us to…

The Book Stack

So, following Nate, Brad, and a whole bunch of other sites I read, here’s my book stack:

Yep, I’m currently in various stages of reading all of these. From top to bottom:

• So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish
• Walden*
• The Gormenghast Novels**
• Textpattern Solutions
• Bulletproof Web Design
• The Proud Highway

*I never actually stop reading this. Read it in high school and for some reason certain parts just completely relax me. So I always keep it around. My friends say I leave it around as an attempt to look smart.

**I’ve been stuck halfway through the second book for about 6 months now, might be time to bump this to the “hiatus” stack.

Future Stack

Of course, I also have quite the stack of books waiting to be read. Possibly because I live within walking distance of a Half Price Books, I’m always buying more than I could possibly ever read.

One at a time anyway.

So, since the camera was already out, here’s my stack of reading waiting patiently to be opened:

Again, top to bottom:

• Mostly Harmless
• Why I Am So Wise
• The Smartest Guys in the Room
• Born Cannibal: Evolution and the Paradox of Man
• Anthem (tip o’ the hat to Beth)
• The Rum Diary
• CSS Mastery
• Pro CSS and HTML Design Patterns
• Good to Great

And I’m Still Buying More

This afternoon actually, I had to close up the PowerBook and walk away because while attempting some digital Christmas shopping, I caught myself with more books in my cart for me than for those whom I was supposed to be shopping.

What can I say? I love to read.

Any recommendations?