BOOKS!

(There is)..."an anecdote about the legendary library of Italian writer Umberto Eco, which contained a jaw-dropping 30,000 volumes.Did Eco actually read all those books? Of course not, but that wasn't the point of surrounding himself with so much potential but as-yet-unrealized knowledge. By providing a constant reminder of all the things he didn't know, Eco's library kept him intellectually hungry and perpetually curious. An ever-growing collection of books you haven't yet read can do the same for you..."

From an article in Inc.com

     We have a library at the house, with hundreds of books. Many of them I have read from cover to cover. Many others I have read....partly.

Part of he home library.

    Some of my reading is professional reading...interviewing authors is part of my job. 
     
     I abhor seeing someone on TV interview an author, an interviewer who has so obviously not read the book...

       "So tell me why you wrote this book?"

And yet, I do understand.

Some of the volumes in our home library.

No matter how much I am interested in the topic or theme of the book, there is only so much time in any given day. 

I DO read at my desk, but less and less is newspaper reading.

     Could I legitimately sit at my desk and read a book all day, the author of which I am going to interview? Of course. 
    But the reality is there will be other assignments...and it would just feel wrong.
     I am interviewing an Alabama author soon and the book is a gem. But it is also more than 600 pages long, and the best I can do is pick and choose, sample the wonderful writing and hope I will get a feel for the story the author is telling, to ask questions that will motivate the author. We'll see.