I started to make a comment at Angel’s The Gypsy Librarian post "The 50 Book Challenge? A little on book lists" but it was getting to be a bit long so I decided to move it here.
Thanks for this Angel! I’ve been thinking about this "list of books read this year" thing that always goes around at the end of the year. I also saw the 50 Book Challenge.
My thinking is that, although I’m not judging anyone personally, I think these things are very narcissistic and I’m not sure what else. Of course, as a blogger am I even allowed to call something narcissistic? ;-> [Please see my below comment for a re-parsing of the "narcissistic" claim. 14 Jan 06]
I had a discussion with a friend a few days ago who keeps such a list. It is "available" publicly although she keeps it for herself. She doesn’t have a blog where she can say, "Here it is, all."
I have started to keep a list myself this year and I hope I can keep it up, but I know I’ll miss some. I also thought about keeping a list of articles, but in my case that is an almost unmanageable idea so I gave it up. I simply read too many (to keep track of). I also thought about the 50 Book Challenge. Well, for about three quarters of a second.
For my own self, I see no reason why I need to challenge myself to read more books. I’d truly love to be able to read more books. I really would. I have a couple 1000 books I have not read, with several 100s of those on the top of my reading list. But some fool is always publishing more. Thankfully!
But I also would like to be able to read more articles. When is any of this going to happen for me? It isn’t. It’s not like I’m watching reality TV, or any TV for that matter. I rarely go to the movies, and once the semester starts I doubt I’ll rent many more movies, even though I have 31 left that are already paid for.
So, for me, none of it makes much sense. I’ll read what I can, and I’ll keep a half-assed list of the books I read, if I’m lucky. But, to get back to the beginning, I had been thinking about making a post and asking folks why they make these lists public. I can somewhat understand keeping them, especially if you are making annotations about all of them. And if you are actually doing mini or full-fledged reviews, then I understand making them public.
I do enjoy reading others’ reviews of books, even though I will rarely read something because of such blog/website reviews. I must say though, Angel, that I have several of yours tagged that I sincerely hope to get to someday. But with 100s surrounding me in my own little apartment….
Maybe there’s just not enough of the reader’s advisor in me. Just as there’s not much of the instruction librarian in me. Just as I wouldn’t be the best pop culture reference librarian. This isn’t to say that I can’t do any of these things, nor that I can’t do them well. OK, would probably suck at reader’s advisory except in a few very narrow slices. But my skills and interests lay elsewhere and they are the direction I’m heading, so you can all rest easy.
So, is this making the annual book list public thing mostly about the inner reader’s advisor? Or is it something else? Is the 50 Book Challenge or whatever your personal challenge is (I know 50 books is about 3 months reading for some of you) just something to keep you from watching reality television? Can anyone help me understand the why of both of these—the challenge and the publicity?
Please, I’m not saying either is wrong. They may not be right for me, but then maybe I just don’t understand the why. Angel’s post went a long way to helping me understand part of the equation. I do understand how others might be interested in seeing another’s list. Me, I’m just not that excited about it. Maybe it’s kind of like I tag stuff in del.icio.us, but I don’t even begin to use it for social things. I put a few things in Library Thing, but could really care less about the social aspect, so I stopped for now (and for reasons of time, too).
Now if Angel or Jenica, or someone else that I know that knows a bit about me, recommends a book to me because of what they know about me then I would take their recommendation under serious consideration. But seeing something in a list that they read is going to have no impact on me whatsoever. They are into way too many things that I don’t care much about, although I might be if I knew better. But with no great reason to find out I won’t know better.
Now in all honesty, there is one person I know whose recommendation for any reading matter I take extremely seriously. Dr. Richard Stivers. BUT. I have taken 3 graduate level seminars with him, and have spent literally 100s of hours in 4 (possibly more) reading/discussion groups with him since 1999. I have only found one book that he recommended to be crap in my opinion. Yet, it was a valuable book. I just didn’t care for the author’s style, nor could I relate to him at all. As for the rest, some of my favorite and some of the best books I have ever read have come via direct recommendation from him or by tracing his sources in his books and articles. Maybe this just works on a broader scale for others than it does for me.
Well, what do you all think?
12 responses so far ↓
1 jenny // Jan 11, 2006 at 8:35 pm
Because it’s relevant I am linking my book blog. ha. look how vain I am.
Unless I know someone, and thus I want to read their personal exploits (especially if it is a friend of mine who lives far away who I can’t see often), I think a non-themed blog is more vain than a themed one. I mean even if I don’t know you, I might care about a book you’ve read because it might also appeal to me, or I might never have heard of it, but why should I care what happened to a stranger at the car wash?
I do very much use my book blog as an RA thing. I do not know why anyone would want to read it, unless they are a friend of mine who likes my taste in books. That’s why it comes with the disclaimer “Books I have read. More for me than for you, but I guess that depends on who you are. If you stalk me, than this will probably be more useful for you than me.”
But I am very aware that when I apply for jobs, people might do research on me, and if they find a blog on books I have read, I don’t see how that can’t be a good sign. Unless maybe I was reading something about work rage issues or something.
Right now the blog doesn’t show up on a google search of me, but that could clearly be changed if I were looking for a job, which I am not.
I think a lot of thought has gone into why people put what they put on the web. When it’s personal info that isn’t for money, it generally stumps people. But did people ask why do weirdos make public access tv? Did they say that was vain? Not really. Do people think it’s vain when people write novels? Vain’s not usually the first adjective used there. Are book clubs vain? Why is the fact that a new technology is being used make expressing yourself vain? If people were forced to read my book blog, and if I was advertising it everywhere, I could see how that’s vain. But honestly several people have asked me what I am reading, if I had any reviews for them, and “how I find this stuff.” It’s an easy delivery device.
I agree that it is not hard for me to find books to read! And by the way I pretty much ONLY watch reality tv.
But honestly, whatever helps people read more is fine by me.
But if you don’t like said posts, just don’t read em.
2 jenny // Jan 11, 2006 at 8:36 pm
addendum:
why is posting what you are blogrolling/blogs you read on a regular basis NOT vain?
3 Mark // Jan 11, 2006 at 9:53 pm
Hey there brat! Yes, Jenny is my friend that I had the mentioned conversation with; as she well knows.
I just reread that statement about being narcissistic. Bad Mark! Bad! I wrote “I think these things are very narcissistic and I’m not sure what else.” I should’ve said that I worry that they are (might be) narcissistic. One of these days I’ll get my modal verbs toned down. At least I covered with, “Of course, as a blogger am I even allowed to call something narcissistic? ;->” But still, “Bad Mark!”
I honestly did worry about the possible narcissism when I 1st started blogging. I’m a bit more comfortable with it now, but yet….
And as for blogrolls, I’m of mixed opinion. I did remove mine although it was never complete anyway. So, yes, it can be vain, among many other things.
I mean it could be possibly used as a “conscious way of manipulating the signifiers of gender to call attention to its constructedness, often in a playful, militant, and politicized way” (Rudacille, 162. See “The Riddle of Gender” post 11 Jan 06). What was a reasonably straitlaced middle-aged hetero male doing with Pinko Feminist Hellcat in his blogroll anyway? Not that I don’t love reading her. But as for “advertising” that I read her, yes, it was a playful and political way of making a statement about gender, just as painting my toenails or wearing pink tiaras might be.
As for book clubs, authorship, public access tv, et al being vain, who’s to say? They certainly can be, just as they can be many other things entirely or at the same time. It depends on the intention of the person exhibiting said behavior. And while we as humans are always inferring others intentions, we do not have unmediated access to them. Neither in reality does the individual, but that is a whole ‘nuther can of worms.
I think one reason that the RA thing works for you and (probably) for so many others is that you read books that many more people would enjoy than those I read. I mean, the typical reaction I get when I tell people what I read for fun is not an, “Oooh, can I borrow that?” It’s most likely to be an outright laugh (at me), a look like “Dude, you should be committed!,” or something similar. Since very few people want to read what I do I guess the RA thing makes sense to me at a conceptual level, but not at the experiential.
And you know what I just realized? There is a list of books that I’ve read “recently” at my web site. Now, before you slap me, it is not public, never went public, and hasn’t been updated for about a year. Nonetheless, I guess I’m sort of guilty as charged.
Anyway, I’m questioning to get others perspectives. I often understand things conceptually, but not in the slightest experientially. Remember our discussion about social software?
One more caveat: (Almost) Anything I ever accuse anyone here of, I am guilty of too! I said almost because I wrote some posts about our criminal leaders and I adamantly claim to be not guilty of what I accused them of.
So, yes, I am on occasion, or at a minimum worry about being, narcissistic. I don’t see how I can’t be in a blog that is often about my life. My intention is certainly never to be so, but it can be questionable on occasion, and I have no control over what others might think.
I’ll leave the post as it is for now, and wait to see what other comments come in, but I hereby back off on the narcissistic statement. I should’ve said that I worry that they are (might be) narcissistic.
4 Jenica // Jan 12, 2006 at 12:02 am
You know, it’s a great question. I don’t know why I do my recording in public. I know why I do the recording, in general — it’s pure personal curiosity about what I actually read in a year (as opposed to what I THINK I read in a year), a desire to prod myself to read more non-fiction books and more literature by showing myself how little non-fiction and literature I really read, and a way to easily remember the name of the author of that great book about the twins who build houses…
But as for why I do it on a blog? I could do it in a notebook, or in a Word file, but I don’t. And that’s probably simply because I use the web, and all of my sites on it, as a personal notebook — it’s just that the notebook happens to be publicly visible. I could put the book stuff behind my password wall, but I don’t. And I don’t, I think, because of one or two friends who read romance novels and fantasy novels and periodically comment on my book posts, thus showing interest in discussing them.
Mind you, those discussions rarely happen online — usually the comment is the nudge that I need to make a phone call to talk about shared reading interests. But even that small expression of interest is enough to get me to leave what is mainly a private activity in a public place.
Because I’d be doing it anyway, for personal reasons, and as long as someone’s interested, I’m happy to share.
Of course, the fact that it’s public and shared puts pressure on me — I didn’t write blurbs on any books I read from August to December this year. I just added titles to the list. And that’s because I got behind, then I felt guilty for being behind, and was scrambling for something meaningful to say… and it had become a chore rather than a project that had value. So I stopped, went back to the part that had value to me (the list), and felt better, immediately. It was a great reminder to me that I do things for reasons, and I need to not lose sight of the reasons. My reasons are mainly personal — I’m not doing it for anyone’s benefit but my own, but if there’s incidental benefit to others, all the better.
I have no idea if any of that info is useful to you, but maybe bits of it will feed into your ongoing thought process?
5 Mark // Jan 12, 2006 at 7:54 am
That was excellent Jenica! I’m not looking for any deep answer to this question. I just know that there are other reasons than I can think of and, more importantly, than those I might “feel.”
The sort of prosaic answer that you gave about doing things for reasons and not losing sight of those reasons is A perfect answer.
Jenny and I were also discussing our uses of various social software tools, but we seem to use them DESPITE their social uses. I use del.icio.us, she uses FURL, I started using Library Thing. But I only use del.icio.us as a bookmarking tool. I do not use it to see what others have tagged.
Maybe my info seeking could be streamlined by using some of these tools in a more social manner. Maybe I could generate more items of info directly related to what I’m interested in, and less chaff. BUT. I like the idea about how only reading the part of the newspaper that is geared to you is a dangerous thing. Our focus can narrow very quickly that way, and besides, how else am I going to get interested in the crazy and highly divergent topics that I do if I am only fed info on what is of interest to me at this moment?
I have to wade through a lot of crap, which can be dismissed rather quickly by skimming, but boy do I find some real jewels some times!
Thanks Jenica! Your response helped quite a bit.
6 Angel // Jan 12, 2006 at 9:55 am
Now you are going to have to go over my blog to get the response (sure, put me on a spot of a long comment, haha). Mostly because you gave me a few things to think about as did your commenters. Anyways, asking questions is a good thing. We like that in librarianship, so you keep asking away. In the meantime, best and keep on blogging.
7 jenny // Jan 12, 2006 at 10:48 pm
I did not think I was being singled out or called narcissistic!! My point was I think the technology involved in blogging makes it narcissistic even though a public access show about it would actually be worse, or writing everyone you know a year end letter would be.
I agree with Jenica though. I tried doing it on paper, but I finish books in so many different places that it was totally impractical. I spend enough time near a computer that it is practical.
8 Mark // Jan 13, 2006 at 7:20 am
Hi Jenny, I hope you aren’t feeling singled out cause I certainly didn’t mean to. Maybe just one of those little communications hiccups I’m prone to.
And what do you mean by “the technology involved in blogging makes it narcissistic”? Are you referring to the fact that it is public, and/or so quickly public that it leads to narcissism? If so, then I understand. If not, then I’d love to hear a bit more.
And yes, a public access show about blogging would be as bad as say a blogger webcam. Oooh, that is bad! Unless it had a redeeming purpose like being a naked blogger webcam, because that would certainly be acceptable in our society.
9 jenny // Jan 15, 2006 at 8:50 pm
No what I meant with my first pot is that there are a lot of public expression forms before blogging that can be just as confessional, but because we are used to them, we don’t see them as vain. i don’t know if I am fully convinced of that, since I think personal blogging can be very vain, but isn’t always.
i meant a public access show about ANYTHING as compared to blogging. They are the same thing, but different technology. Some public access shows, around a theme, are great and informative. Some are a 17 yr old in the basement talking about her life. Those are boring and vain. Blogs seem the same to me. Not all are vain, just the super personal and boring ones.
10 ...the thoughts are broken... // Jan 15, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Rollerskating Birthday Party
I went to Elizabeth’s (my coworker) rollerskating birthday party last night. She turns 26 tomorrow, so she is just 4 months older than my son. Most of the rest of her friends that joined us are about her age; about 30 of us in all I think. We didn’t ex…
11 Anna // Jan 24, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Blogging is narcissistic, which is probably why so many people do it. Does that make it wrong? Not entirely. For example, I get a lot enjoyment out of reading Jenica’s blog because she writes so well, and occasionally I get some professional benefit because we have similar jobs and she’s much more proactive in some areas than I am.
As for the 50 books challenge… For me it’s largely personal. I want to keep up my reading, but sometimes I’m too lazy to read even the genre fiction that fills most of my bookcases. Having it public keeps me accountable. Also, writing the blurbs about what I’ve read will come in handy later with my flaky memory.
12 Mark // Jan 24, 2006 at 10:05 pm
Hi Anna and thanks for dropping by and commenting.
I sort of wish I could rewrite this post because it doesn’t express what I was really trying to say, or more honestly, to question. And more importantly, I think it doesn’t express my own self-referential questioning as well as it could have.
I love reading Jenica! (Did I read her before I met her? Don’t remember; but don’t think so.) She is generally upbeat and happy, and often about little things. I need that! And when she is grumpy or upset, it is about things that I would be grumpy or upset about too. And although I’m still a student, she writes about topics of interest to me because of classes I’m in, or just generally. So I have been able to learn from her.
I guess I’m not willing to “challenge” myself to read right now (possibly in the future) because I already read so much. Right now it is mostly LIS lit, and thus tons of articles but I’m sneaking some books in there too. Of course, I read literature for my Mimesis discussion group. I have the Virtual Journal Club…. I guess I’d have to give up lots of article reading that I enjoy to be able to get more books in.
So far this year, I’ve only read (as in finished) one book. But I’ve got a couple still going from last year and I’ve started several others. I, too, have shelves of unread books! Mine is mostly non-fiction but I do have a fair amount of fiction that I’d like to get to someday.
Anyway, thanks for commenting. I think I have a decent grasp of why others do some of the things I was questioning, those reasons just don’t resonate with me–at this point in time.