Decisions, Decisions OR What Book Do I Read Next?

Every time I put a book back on the shelf, I choose a new one to read.  My problem is that I accumulate books faster than I can read them, so it's hard to decide what's next.  Also, by nature I don't like to make decisons if I don't have to.  (Don't ever make me decide where to go to eat!)  So when I need to pick a new book, I use the scientific method of eenie, meenie, miney, moe.  Basically, I put the completed book back on the shelf and start counting from the next book in line, working my way down the shelves.  Whatever book I land on, I read.

Of course, there are rules to this game.  First, I usually don't read two similar books in a row.  For example, I just read a book on Lincoln's cabinet, so I wouldn't read another Civil War era history or biography.  Second, sometimes I land on a book I've already read and don't feel like re-reading right now.  In either of these cases, I just go to the next book in line and apply the same rules.  When I land on a book that I haven't read, I must read it.  No excuses.

I know I could just pick whatever I felt like reading, but that never works.  I have too many books to choose from, and some might never get read if I did it that way.  With my method, each book has an equal chance of being read somewhere down the line.  It might sound crazy to you, but if you know me well enough you probably aren't at all surprised at how my mind works.  Ask me sometime how I go about eating a bag of M&Ms.  There's an order to everything!

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln -- Doris Kearns Goodwin (2005)

At 757 pages, this book took me about a year to read.  I am actually a pretty fast reader, but my reading was interrupted by other books that were not 3 inches thick and therefore more appropriate for taking on vacation or to court appearances.  This should not suggest that the book was boring; in fact, the opposite is true.

Although Lincoln is the character around whom this story is told, it is not really a story about Lincoln so much as his presidential cabinet.  The main players are Salmon Chase, Edwin Stanton, William Seward and Edward Bates, all of whom Lincoln defeated for the presidential nomination in 1860.  For the most part, these men thought Lincoln unqualfied for the presidency, but Lincoln somehow knew these political rivals were also the men he needed with him as the country headed towards the Civil War.  Their minds were changed regarding Lincoln's abilities over the course of the next several years leading up to Lincoln's assassination.

This book is heavy on politics, so the reader needs to be interested in politics to truly enjoy this book.  The casual Lincoln fan might find it tedious.  I do enjoy politics, and while I'd heard of these cabinet members, I knew little about them.  I thought this book was fantastic, I learned a lot, and I would definitely recommend it.

My ranking:  5 out of 5 stars

Let's give this blog another shot!

I've tried this before and failed spectacularly. However, I thnk it's time to try again!
I love books! While I don't have time to read as much as I used to, I still try to read at least a little every day. It just takes longer to finish each book now! And really, I'm only rarely reading only one book at a time. There's the book I read at home, the book I read at school, and often one other book thrown in somewhere for good measure (such as having one in the bedroom and one in the living room). I think I just have a sort attention span and that's why I'm reading several things at once.  It's also why I love to read during commercials.  That's also how I studied when I was in school -- in short little bursts during commercials.

My goal with this blog is twofold: 1) to review books as I complete them, and 2) to talk about the world of books in general. I'm hoping to inspire others to read as well as to be inspired by the books others have read. Please feel free to comment and add to the discussion!