I’ve been on a book buying diet, restricting my appetite for books, books, and more books, trying to use the library as much as possible. Of course, this holds its own temptations. I currently have seven books from three separate libraries lolling about, taking up room on the night stand and the back seat of the car. I always travel with a book. One never knows when a freight train will roll by.
With all the books at my disposal, I was in a bit of a quandary this weekend over what to read next. Does this ever happen to you, where nothing on the pile you so carefully acquired calls out? I kept picking up books and putting them down, frustrated at having some time to read and not finding quite what I wanted. I finally settled on a book I bought last summer for $1 in a book sale bin. April in Paris by Michael Wallner. It is another page turner in spite of its uncomfortable subject matter and after just finishing Sarah’s Key.
One thing led to another today as I pottered about here on the computer, deleting bookmarks no longer relevant, which is how I came across this YouTube video from the television series, The Twilight Zone. Did you ever watch the Twilight Zone? It was often frightening to me as a child and I still remember many of the episodes. There it was, bookmarked for some reason I no longer recall, waiting to be opened, reminding me to savor whatever time I have to read a book.
This one was featured on another blog some time ago. I can’t remember where I saw it, so, if it was yours, I hope you don’t mind me using it here.
I loved that show. They always had such intriguing stories. Was that Burgess Meredith? He played many characters through the years. One of my favorites was the dolls thrown into the Christmas bin on the street….
I have several books I bought in the last year, and can’t seem to find the desire right now to pick up any of them, despite the rainy weather. But, “one never knows when a freight train will roll by.” Great line.
It was really innovative for its time, wasn’t it Teresa? It was Burgess Meredith. I remember the one with the Christmas dolls. I station here carries the Twilight Zone here, late at night. I never watch it as I know I’ll get hooked in.
Thanks, Teresa. I think these languishing books eventually get read.
As we so often say, “so many books, so little time.” I remember that episode of the Twilight Zone. It was very scary to me. I have had a book Bonanza with the school library being cleaned out. I have had so much fun. I too carry a book with me almost all of the time. I don’t have many freight trains to wait for, but many spare moments for reading.
Perfect quote, Janet. I envy you that book Bonanza and know the fun you are having at the school library. Any of Lois Lenski’s regional series? Doctor’s office, picking someone up, while the tea is brewing, down at the pond – there is always a need for a book.
Wow, typical Twilight Zone – creepy! I remember going to bed at night and then hearing the music at the beginning of that show as my parents sat down to watch, even the music used to scare me!
I certainly know what you mean about having piles of books but nothing I want to read at the moment – this is how you end up with piles of books! What I’ve been doing lately with my Kindle is downloading free samples of book I think I’d like to read and then when I need a book I just read the free samples and get what seems to grab me at the time. I didn’t this with the book you recommended recently, “The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times” and it pulled me in immediately so now I’m around a third of the way in and really enjoying it!
Creepy is a fitting word for the Twilight Zone, and the music certainly set the tone for an hour of fright.
Spoken like a kindred book buying friend! That is another good reason for using Kindle. It sometimes takes a few chapters to get into a book and having a free sample helps. I’m glad to hear you are enjoying Midwife, Janet. I doubt that I would have picked it out if I hadn’t read about it on Rachel’s blog. I’d love to chat with you about it over a coffee sometime.
That would be nice Penny, I’m really enjoying it! (also, I sure wish we could fix typos in our comments – that “I didn’t this” was supposed to be “I did this”)
How interesting. The content of the video clip is blocked in NZ, so I couldn’t watch. I had to laugh at the idea of a book buying diet! I know exactly what you mean by having too many books piled up. Somehow the choice of what to read, and when, needs to be intuitive There’s many a book that I’ve left aside for years, and then read when the time was exactly right.
I’m sorry you weren’t able to view it, Juliet. It is a scene where a man is alone in the world, debris all around him. A bookworm, he finds he is in the ruins of the public library with all the time and books he could ask for, then, he drops his glasses and they break.
Intuitive. Yes. I know I will want to read the books I put down, just not now. I’m so glad my diet gave you a laugh, Juliet. By the way, it is 50 degrees here this morning. Quite cool after our 98 degree record breaking day just a few days ago. Odd weather continues.
We always use “Twilight Zone as an adjective to describe anything weird and unsettling. I remember it too well
Just those two words bring on a sense of dread, don’t they Kate? There was one episode where parents can hear their child in the bedroom, but can’t find her. She fell out of bed and rolled into another dimension. That one kept me up nights, especially since I was famous for falling out of bed myself!
Fascinating…it’s blocked in France too. being told you can’t view something somehow makes it all the more interesting. As I dont have piles of books ready to dive into at the moment, I have decided to hunt through your past posts for recommended reading. I’ll let you know how I get on. J.
Sorry that happened, Janice. I know what you mean about wanting to see something even more when you can’t. Good luck in your hunt for the next book – and maybe a break from pictures books, which I also have trouble passing up.
I had forgotten that episode and it made me cry! But it was perfect for your post — and yes, that happens to me all the time, not finding the book that is just right for my mood. Most of the time I have more than one going at once — but sometimes neither is right. I am loading up my Kindle for travel right now — that’s the way I carry my books around town too now. (Here, you never know when you’ll be stopped by a drawbridge… or more likely, I never know when Bill will want “just a quick stop at Home Depot.” (No problem, I’ll get my latest Dickens book read while you’re in there ;>))
Isn’t it rather heart wrenching of an ending as he cries out that it just isn’t fair? Oh, Sallie, me too. Then, poof, there is just the right one, most likely at the bottom of the pile. Kindle is so convenient for traveling as you do, isn’t it? We don’t get waylaid by drawbridges very often here, though it does happen in the City of Chicago at times. Aha! Home Depot. One of Tom’s favorite spots as well.
Penny, I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who collects books and then can’t decide what to read. My reading really has to fit my mood, yet I have very little success with reading several books at one time.
My library has an atrocious collection available for download, so I’ve been buying more books of late by download. It has forced me to savor my books more, and I think that’s been good for me. Maybe not so much for my pocketbook, but…….
We are two of many members of the “can’t decide what to read” society, Andra. The CDWR. I can get a few books going at once, which happens because I can’t always remember where I put the last one I was reading. tee hee
I think libraries are starting to catch up to the e-reader technology to keep card members coming back, but, it will take awhile. It is great that downloading works well for you. Enjoy them.
I have the same push-pull response to the Twilight Zone. I still remember many episodes and what’s funny to me is that when I was younger I really enjoyed the macabre/surreal and chilling storylines with their disturbing endings…and now I almost can’t handle them! I loved watching this clip, though, and Serling was just the master of making a point in ways you never quite forget! I read several books at one time. This habit started several years ago, and came on much like a little compulsion. I think it may have started during a time of stress when I was using reading as a very deliberate escape. It’s kind of helpful in the sense that I have something at my ready for every mood, but when you’re reading half a dozen books at once and you read how many blogs (ahem!), the getting to the end of any single book can take months! LOL! We are all a little bit neurotic about our books, I think. I’ll just admit it and stick with my belief that I’d be a lot MORE neurotic if I didn’t love to read!
Debra
It’s interesting how our tastes and tolerances change over time, isn’t it? Rod Serling was, indeed, a master. He would give the show’s introduction and I would be hooked into the story before it began. So sad that he died rather young. Books and blogs and life, oh my – it is like following the yellow brick road in search of the wizard and finding, well, finding more books. I’m with you, Debra. Our books keep us from being MORE neurotic.
Well if you ever want to watch “The Twilight Zone” I have Collection 1 that has 9 volumes a total of 35 classic episodes. Billy watched them all but we only watched about 3, brings back good memories, never missed a show. Good to watch on a cold, stormy night….
Oh, they are on DVD’s…
That is nice of you, Sharon. Maybe one cold and stormy night . . . Actually, tonight IS a cold and stormy night. Thank you, Sharon.
Well, this TZ episiode is one of my worst nightmares as I am “visually challenged” without my glasses. There were many of those programs that scared me, especially the one about the people who looked like pigs. What a sick imagination!
I am on a perpetual book diet but am a glutton. I can rationalize any and all book purchases. Since I am a multi-reader (new word?), I always have at least 3 going at once. The vehicles also contain paperbacks of old favorites as I have panic attacks if I get in a doctor’s office or the dreaded Home Depot without something to read.
It is tough to end a really fabulous book and not have another must read lined up though. Somehow we muddle through!
I remember the one with the pig people. They were “normal”.
Oh, Marilyn, you sound just like me. What did I do tonight? I went to library to return two books and came back with six! Two are cookbooks, so, they don’t count (or so I say). I’m sitting here giggling because I, too, take a book to the doctor’s office, or have a standby book ready in the car and I know that panic feeling when a good book is nearing its end.
Here’s to all book muddlers, kindred spirits all.
I spent some time last night reading my TBR list! Good reading in itself? Today I took “Midwife” back to the library (enjoyed it) and picked up Still Alice by Lisa Genova which had been recommended to me. I can tell it is going to be one I won’t want to put down.
Don’t remember that particular episode of Twilight Zone, but I’ve seen lots of them. Have you seen the movieFarenheit 451? It’s related to books too (against the law to have them) – you might enjoy it.
It’s cooled off here too. Don’t know quite what to think. I guess I should be out pulling weeds out of the sweet corn.
Oh, Joyce, I sometimes do the same thing. Wouldn’t that be a fun book to write? The title could be TBR; Living With High Reading Expectations, or some such thing. I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed Midwife and here you are, on to another book you will like. Let me know if I should add Still Alice to my TBR.
I have seen Farenheit 451 and read the book in high school. It might be fun to reread it sometime. Isn’t F451 the temperature books burn at?
Tonight feels more like March weather than the weather we had in March. We have had some much needed rain. Oh, the thought of fresh sweet corn has me salivating, Joyce.
This episode has stuck with me for years. As a teenager, I couldn’t see a thing without my glasses (this was before contacts) and thought this would be the absolute worst thing that could happen to me.
I too find myself with a lovely empty weekend, piles of books bought on the Grand Southern Literary Tour, and no sense of where to start. Maybe I will just close my eyes, grab a book out of the pile, and begin. And be grateful that I can see and that I have time to indulge myself.
Me either, Belle. If I misplaced my places I would be in a panic until I got contact lenses. I remember the first time I lost a contact. Again, panic, but at least there was one eye covered.
I imagine you have quite a collection from the tour, Belle, and whatever you pick from the pile will be perfect for your weekend. Enjoy.
Dear Penny, I can’t remember ever watching that show, but I suppose I must have because the voice at the end was so familiar. The video had me so hopeful and then the lenses fell and all came apart. So I think I’d best learn the lesson–don’t put off the day in thinking of the morrow. I’d best get busy on writing the rest of the memoir! Thank you for this evocative reminder! Peace.
Not putting things off is, indeed, a good lesson to remember, Dee, especially for me. I feel so bad for the character in the end as he cries out that it isn’t fair.
I hope your visits today are an indication that you are feeling better. I’ll look forward to “visiting” you a little later, Dee. Until then, I am wishing you good health.
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