A Confession

Hello, my name is McCarty Muser, and I am a serial book monogamist.

I only read one book at a time, all the way through to the end. (Although I like Kathleen Norris’ Vocabulary of Faith so much that I decided to read Cloister Walk much slower, just a little bit at a time, like a piece of cake you try to just eat one bite of, and walk away, but you keep taking little bites of every time you walk by because it is just so good.)

I never, ever cheat and read the last page first.

Every time I open a book, I think, “Maybe I’ll fall in love. Maybe I’ll change. Maybe my eyes will be opened just a little wider. Maybe this book will give me some piece of hope and wisdom that will stay with me my whole life.” It doesn’t always happen, but I always hope.

I can’t read while walking (because sometimes, I can’t walk while walking.)

If I come to your house, and I seem antsy and ill at ease, it’s because I’m wondering where your bookshelves are, and why they aren’t out in the living room where I can peruse them without seeming too nosy.

I collect first sentences.

I want to be a kid again so someone will drive me everywhere, allowing me the extra car time to read, read, read.

Cooking and reading is dangerous and pointless for me, as I then end up doing both badly, and there’s always that one time I caught my page on fire.

The librarians at my library know all about our llama.

I read at night until I can’t keep my eyes open, unless Micah is having trouble sleeping and keeps saying, “Hey, why don’t you turn out the light?” and “Hey, it sure is bright in here.” And I love him because when I say, “Would you like me to turn off the light and go to a different room?” he always says, “No. I want you to stay.” And he means it.

What kind of reader are you?

Comments

[Jim]

If you wouldn't mind, some of your first sentence collection please.

[greg]

Sorry, I'm a serial adulterer. I have six or seven going at a time.

[Kevin]

Hmmm. That's suspicious. I see a full seven books over in the "books we're reading" spot. ;) Micah must be a serial adulterer, too. I'd also like to see the first sentences collection. Oh, and that last bit about reading in bed is exactly the sort of thing that goes on in our household, except I'm much more of a martyr about it.

[Ryan Abernathy]

Hey Mccarty Muser!
I am an adulterous bibliophile. I have 3-5 books going at once. It's the ADD in me. Love your blog!
Abs

[natalie]

I like taking my time with books... I've been in the same place in Crime And Punishment for over a year, due to sharing it with my brother who reads SOOOO slowly... in the middle of Jane Austen and a book of storms... I like to take my time reading bits and pieces at a time and kinda meditating on it. A lot of the time I find myself inspired by the books to do some sort of project, and once I've finished that project, THEN I can return to soaking up the pages.... I love books!!!

[Kevin]

So I posted my own book confessional at my blog. But what's this about a llama?

[jen]

I am so glad to have found your blog via badchristian. I will be checking back regularly. Just wrote this in my own post at www.spiritinskin.com/blog : I am a slow and easy reader. I take my time and usually read only one book at a time. I like to make the good books last as long as possible. I like reading in bed right before I go to sleep. While I consider myself to be an avid reader, my confession is that I like movies just as much as books. God has used both to further my spiritual growth and to draw me closer to Him. When someone recommends that I read a particular book, I take it very seriously…because it may be just what I need to read…just what I need to hear next.

[Kristen]

Kevin and Jen, loved reading your blogs on this and loved everyone's comments. I almost didn't post this blog after I wrote it because I was thinking- who cares about this stuff? Why make it obvious again what a nerd you are? But apparently, it's okay.

The books in the "books we're reading" column are actually the books we're...currently reading, but we usually don't put them up until we are in the middle of them. And then they get pushed down the list as we finish and begin with new ones. I read two or three books a week, unless I get into something really long and wonderful. So, while it may look as though I'm a book adulterer- the list is really just a history of my brief monogamies (and Micah's, of course- the fact that there are two of
us make that list move faster).

I have put up a list of first sentences I love before- but I'll put it up again with some of my newer favorites.

Kevin, we'll put a picture of the llama in the photo album. It feels like we're always writing about the llama, but maybe we haven't in a while.

[Micah]

I love my nerdy wife.

[jim]

Sorry, I should have checked your archives for past first sentence collections. I've also posted a "reader type" respone at my blog. Since you've inspired at least a couple of people to post responses at their blogs, I also started a tag at technorati.com ('reader type') which you can access here--

reader type

[Kinsey]

sister, i remember the days of road trips when the second we got in the car and your nose would be in a book. you'd barely stop to take a "potty" break. i loved you then as i love you now. i wish i had time to think about reading.

[Scott Jones]

Ryan, I'm done with Generous Orthodoxy and plan on calling you this week to loan it to you.

I always have multiple books going at once. Some, then, take months to work through and others I get through more quickly. It is like a weird dance.

I love reading while walking. I did it a lot back in Shawnee. I'm sure people thought I was a strange person because I'd wonder through neighborhoods for two hours at a time reading. I've not done it since, though.

It is important to always have a book, because you never know when you might need it. I hate wasting time.

[cheek]

Reading should always be done whenever it is possible. I love working in a library because I can read most of the time I am at work, and if a book is suggested to me, I can run right upstairs to get it.

It took me four months to read all of Walden because decided when I started that I would read all of it in the outdoors. Wouldn't have been as much of a problem if I hadn't started in January, but as it was, I became the resident dork in my dorm. The three guys who were perpetually smoking on the back porch took to cheering me on when I would rush out for a quick, three-page fix before rushing back in to get warm.

I read non-fiction in the morning when I can (mostly philosophy) and novels all the rest of the time. I try to stick to one at a time, but it usually doesn't work because I surround myself with such wonderfully nerdy people who are always suggesting new material. Leanne and I read to each other on car trips. Right now she's reading to me from Watch With Me by Wendell Barry.

Our favorite date option is to go peruse the shelves a some hole-in-the-wall used bookstore. In high school I used to split my lunch-money fairly evenly between books and cigarettes. Leanne makes me buy groceries now before going to the bookstore so I'm starting to gain weight like never before.

I hope I haven't gone on to long. I loved this. For the first time in my life, I want to have my own blog.

[Kristen]

;) Here are a few more first sentences that I love:

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.
I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith

I told you last night that I might be gone sometime, and you said,Where, and I said, To be with the Good Lord, and you said, Why, and I said Because I'm old, and you said, I don't think you're old.
Gilead, Marilyn Robinson

Dr. Weiss, at age forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.
The Debut, Anita Brookner

In the town there were two mutes, and they were always together.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers

First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys.
Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury

One night last summer, all the killers in my head assembled on a stage in Massachusettes to sing show tunes.
Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell

Once upon a time, there were five French soldiers who had gone off to war, because that's the way of the world.
A Very Long Engagement, Sebastien Japriscot

*I just can't help it.

[zalm]

I couldn't help it either.

Sadly, I've got no response to the original question yet, but I found it easier right now to play the first line game. For what it's worth....

[joanna]

Just found your blog--I'm going to link to it from my blog--love this discussion--I'm a polytextist--I have about four or five books going at a time, and I read the beginning, end and then the middle, so every book is like a mystery novel that I want to figure out.

And I'm a McCarty--a descendent, that is, from James McCarty in Tennessee!

[Nicole]

I finally did my own response here http://goingape.blogspot.com/2005/05/what-kind-of-reader-am-i.html

[Leanne]

I too have a monogamous relationship with books. Except for the books that my husband and I read together I just focus on one book at a time. Even though I have a need to finish any book I start, there have been some unfinishables. In this case, I can’t just put them down, I must leave a bookmark where I left off as a forever promise that I will return someday to do it the justice that it deserves. I honestly have a guilty pang every time I think about them.

Cheating and reading the last page of a book is a mortal sin for me. There is no redemption.

I can never leave my home without a book. It would be like a boy scout without his all-in-one knife, unprepared. What if conversation slacks, what if traffic is bad, what if there are unfilled moments in my day? I’m ready.

I read while driving. I read while walking. I’ve read during church services and boring dinners. It’s surprising I’m alive and that I still have a social life actually.

I can only read in the bath in short spurts because my arms grow tired too fast.

I’ve missed most sites from my parents’ car windows because of books.

Sadly, I’ve lived most of my life through words on pages of novels. I have no regrets though.