Book Pile

After the shelves are full and before another bookshelf is purchased/constructed/jerry-rigged, a thing called the book pile emerges. One of my favorite book piles was (is?) the one that lives on my friend Jamie's floor. She sent me the list of titles from her pile, which I saved in my inbox and still refer to when I'm looking for a new book to read. My book pile is currently all to read and none have read. It is quite exciting and a source of motivation. 

I have yet to make much of a dent in my book pile because I am in the process of reading Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. Both Zach and Jamie (the most enthusiastic of my reading friends) say it is the best book they have ever read. The thing is a beast. Big words. Long sentences. Mega descriptive. I downloaded a dictionary app on my phone because I come across words routinely that I don't know. After taking a month off, I am about a third of the way through it and the multiple plots have become increasingly interesting and often really good, but have yet to show any signs of coming together. It is a bizarre experience reading, enjoying, sometimes not following, spending days in the footnotes, not yet being blown away, but knowing that it will be satisfying to see through. I say bizarre experience because I don't usually continue reading a book that I find even a little bit boring or frustrating. I am in new territory.

I've also been keeping a list of words that I don't know and have had to look up while reading this past week. I'm going to share them. Don't judge. I should know redolent. 


assiduous- Constant in application or attention
sedulously- Persevering and constant in effort or application; assiduous
verdant- green
redolent- Strongly reminiscent or suggestive of (something
prescient- Having or showing knowledge of events before they take place
tumid- Swollen (body part), pompous (ego)
aegis- protection
preternatural- Surpassing the normal or usual; extraordinary
strabismic- A visual defect in which one eye cannot focus with the other on an object because of imbalance of the eye muscles. Also called squint.
dirigible- able to be steered or directed
paucity- scarcity; dearth
junket- A trip or tour, especially one taken by an official at public expense


On that note, I'm going to go read.