Book Me

The ides of February have passed.

What are we going to read next? At the moment, I'm itching for something relatively fast, with a minimum of horror/tragedy (unless, of course, the horror and tragedy are handled as comedy, in which case the experience of reading said events is much more enjoyable. For me, anyway.) But not too funny. And not too sappy. And with just the right amount of profound, you-did-not-waste-your-time-reading-this added in.

I could do a keyword search at the library with all of the above and see what I come up with. I don't think I have enough Boolean operatives for such a search. Which is why browsing the shelves is so important. Which is why I'm a little distressed about what's happening with the Borders reorganization, even if there are other stores, plenty of them. Some say bookstores are going the way of the dinosaur, thanks to e-readers. I'm not against e-readers (the devices, nor those who read electronically) and aside from the bigger and nastier question of who has access to the technology, I do think they limit the serendipity of finding the perfect book you're in the mood for. I don't want our society to become so efficient that we eliminate browsing.

I love to browse. Not just bookstores, either: I could spend, I have spent, many hours in the aisles of hardware stores, office supply stores, craft stores, variety stores. Many hours, many stores. Browsing. Bookstores are by far my favorite.
And libraries, too.

These are social spaces. And while I like technological convenience and certainly enjoy bouts of hibernation, I sort of fear these insular worlds we're creating, where limited interaction occurs. Limited chance of finding or seeing the thing or person you didn't expect to find or see.

That's my platform. More serendipity. Can we make that happen? And also, a recommendation for my next read?