A Dose of Random Randomness #6

- I am within one book review of being caught up with the review backlog that's been dogging me, yet for some reason, I'm writing this instead. I mean, jeez, if I finished that one review, I'd have to find something else to feel inexplicably guilty about, and we can't have that now can we?

- You know what I hate that other people seem to love? Choosing my next book to read. There's nothing I loathe more than finishing a book on the weekend, when I do the bulk of my reading, only to be left wasting valuable minutes trying to choose the next book and get into the meat of the story before my precious reading time gets eaten up by the work week. Instead of being enthralled by the possibilities, I'm paralyzed by the choice. This may be one reason why I don't read that many books in a year, or well, really get anything much accomplished....

- I got a letter in the mail from the New Yorker customer service center a few weeks ago that kindly refers to me as a "preferred New Yorker subscriber," and then oh-so-helpfully assures me that my subscription will be automatically renewed, and I will shortly receive my invoice for $49.95. Apparently, being "preferred" translates to having your subscription renewed automatically without your permission at a rate of approximately $10 more than is offered on their website for new subscribers. Jeez, New Yorker, don't do me any favors. I think I'll just go back to being a lame, un-preferred subscriber...or perhaps not a subscriber at all.

- I suck at quitting book acquisition cold turkey, and not for lack of trying. Despite my efforts to keep books from darkening my door so I can try to get the ones I have under control, they continue to arrive. And then, I, um, lose control and request one or two or, um, three. But that's still okay because I could have easily requested ten or twenty, right? See, yeah. I suck. No wonder the TBR is beyond out of control.

- I have a problem with collecting books by authors who I think I'll like without ever reading one to make sure that I'll like it. Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood, Pete Hamill, the list goes on....and on. I've encountered a few other nuts like me who do this lately, but how about you? Do you follow this bizarre pattern of insanity? What authors are you just collecting? ;-)

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