NOTES
1. Perhaps this list reflects a little of the ambivalence I spotted in my lobby in April. Okay, that's not true, I know it does, but someone recommended the Vaynerchuk book to me and this beats buying it.
2. Summer of DFW in full effect! But speaking of, is it ludicrous that the library only has one copy of the David Lipsky book? 36 people are waiting for it right now (myself not included, though it looks like I'm going to have some slots free soon).
3. This is the third time I have checked THE HELP out from the library. Twice I received it, didn't have time to crack it and sent it straight back because someone else had a hold on it. Given my admitted desire to see what the fuss is about, I can only speculate that it's just ill-timed.
4. I realize given #3, I should probably not be requesting this many short-wait books at one time, but this habit dies hard. It hearkens back to my more transient years, when I would move into a place, gaze disapprovingly at the empty shelf, and form an ad hoc collection at the nearest library. (Unless I wasn't allowed to use it. I'm looking at you, college libraries of my mid-high-school summers.) And the DFW I can just renew until I'm finished.
5. On the other hand, I have been digesting books at an awesome rate recently, so let's hope that continues. Must be the weather.
6. It's worth noting that the Michael Lewis book has already been out for almost three months, and yet... Maybe 177 copies just wasn't enough? But I can wait.
7. I flipped through EVERYTHING AND MORE once and it seems pretty esoteric and technical. Not sure if I'll end up finishing it. We'll see.
3 comments:
I currently have the Lipsky book out from the BPL - we had a much shorter waiting list (I think I was like 7 out of 7 when I first got on the waiting list). The waiting list for Michael Lewis' book was in the 140 range, but certainly not as bad as the list in Manhattan - perhaps because Brooklyn is less "financy?"
I forget how it works in Manhattan, but the BPL gives you no indication of how long a waiting list is before you place a hold on a book, so you can easily end up requesting multiple books that arrive at the same time. Booo-urns.
The NYPL shows you how many holds, but I have that same problem of multiple books arriving at once. I think it has something to do with the circulation between libraries, possibly only running on certain days? Nor do the holds move up sequentially, unless there's only one book around.
I might still buy the Lipsky anyway; I saw it on a buy-1-get-50%-off table at Borders, but nothing on the rest of the table beckoned, so I moved on. It's an oddly large paperback, don't you think?
The Lipsky book, which I own and started over the weekend, is wonderful and worth buying. The packaging alone (matte/spot gloss, paperback with flaps, and the deckle edge) makes it a wonderful object that you'll want to own, as any DFW fan. The 'Infinity' book is much more math based than I have capacity for at the time, but god, I love being overwhelmed by his mind.
Godin's and Gary V's books can be finished in one read. I had a hard time with 'Interviews' (still) and think that Lewis will be a good read (but yes, very popular).
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