Just reading can be a full-time job

By JAY HORNING

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 31, 2000

So many books, so little time. That phrase comes to mind every time I enter a library or a bookstore. Or whenever the Times Festival of Reading pops up on my radar screen. For years, my wife has encouraged (maybe even pushed) me to write a book. I have resisted. My literary legacy will have to rest in the columns I have written over the years for the St. Petersburg Times.

Beside, we already have one author in the family. One of our daughters has had a book published, and it went into a second printing, an indication of at least moderate success. The fact that her publisher is urging her to write another would seem to be another indication. She, too, is resisting that request.

I cannot find time even to read the books I want to, let alone write one. I thought this would change when I retired 10 years ago, but it was not to be. Perhaps I am just not a good manager of my time, but there never seems to be enough time to read. My wife says I spend too much time reading newspapers, and she may be right. But a lifelong habit, formed during a long career in the newspaper field, is difficult to break.

"You don't have to read everything in the paper," she says. She is right -- and I don't, although I probably read more than is necessary. I begin each day reading the Times, picking and choosing along the way. I hardly ever finish it in the first sitting, returning to it later in the day, sometimes not moving it to the recycling bin until bedtime, what with all the interruptions of daily living.

We go through periods of having the New York Times delivered at home, and that's when things get really complicated. Eventually, we reach the point at which it is unmanageable: I keep saving sections I haven't finished reading, fully intending to get back to them later.

Often I do, but then there begin to be too many weeks when I wind up with two or three sections of the previous Sunday issue yet to read, with another about to be dropped at the front door. Then we decide to forgo that pleasure for awhile, limiting our newspaper reading to our own Times. Before long, we go through the same cycle again.

Recently, though, the New York Times has come to the rescue, providing via computer a sort of capsule version of its highlights. I am given the opportunity to be selective and let the Times know what I particularly would like to read. For example, I began by asking that I be sent stories on the arts, books and political campaigns. I have been receiving these stories on the computer for less than a week, but already it is clear that this is a time-saver.

Nevertheless, time spent reading newspapers, be it on a computer screen or on newsprint, takes away time that might be spent on other reading -- books, for instance. About five years ago, when we down-sized, we decided to reduce our book inventory, keeping only those that were favorites or had special meaning.

Our plan was to get our books from the library, and we have done that, for the most part. Still, when we go to the library, it sometimes seems as though we bite off more than we can chew, and some of the books have to go back without being read.

At the moment, three library books are vying for my attention. I soon will complete Isaac's Storm, then decide which of the other two to tackle. Chances are that both won't be read by the due date. About then, the Times' Festival of Reading arrives on the scene, bringing with it the likelihood of additions to the always present "to-read" backlog.

As I said, there are so many books and so little time.

- You can write to Jay Horning c/o Seniority, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Or send e-mail to jayhorning@aol.com.

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