Life and Coffee: June 2011

Everyone has their favorite things to buy. From fathers and their power tools to grandmothers and their cook books, some innate part within humans compels us to own, possess, and collect certain things. Like any other normal 20-something year old girl, I love to shop. Clothes, shoes, purses, makeup; the list is never ending. However, one item in particular is the perpetual top-liner on my list. Books. I didn't realize I had a problem until I moved home from college. Along with the boxes and bags of various and sundry items, I had stacks upon stacks upon stacks of books perched precariously on every available surface in my room. I nearly twisted my ankle trying to step over one of these literary towers. Despite the disorder of my now over-packed childhood room, I became a regular at the local Barnes and Noble; I tried to reboot my kindle (the cord is lost somewhere among the unpacked boxes); and I visited the local library to apply for a new card.
I realized I had a problem when I couldn't take the chaos of my room any longer and decided to organize my books. My friend, Catherine, suggested that I separate those books which I had read from the unread. The unread pile grew steadily as I continued to unearth novels around my room. Final tallies leave the unread at 50. FIFTY BOOKS! Some people don't read that many books in a lifetime, and yet here they sit in my room. How does this happen? Am I a candidate for hoarders?
Despite my predicament, there is just something wonderful and exciting about the discovery of a new story, the expectation of a happy ending, and the satisfaction of acquiring knowledge- learning a little something more of the human condition to make sense of this life.
Ok, now that I've adequately philosophized, let's get down to the problem at hand. I have 50 unread books in my room. Whatever the excuse was for not reading them at the time of purchase, no excuses are acceptable now. I am not allowed to buy any more books until I have finished this hearty stack which now resides under my desk. I will update you periodically on my progress and give a short review of some of my favorites or even least favorites.

Currently, I am reading Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada.

I know, it sounds depressing, but I love historical fiction, and this novel is

set in Nazi Berlin. My mom has read it and said that everyone should read it

just to get a kind of perspective on how lucky we are today.