the unfinished book

     Listening to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! on National Public Radio this weekend I heard that I no longer need to feel guilty about the books I haven't finished -- not the ones I've started to write and never penned a complete chapter, but the books I haven't finished reading. They're on my night stand, and they rise to the top every once in awhile, generally when I pick up the books after I've knocked over the entire stack.
     Sometimes I let unfinished books languish for reasonably good reasons. I own the book, but I borrowed the other one I'm reading from the library and must return it in a few days. Or, book club is next week and I really must finish the selection. Or I just have to find out what happens in the book I'm listening to in the car and I read faster than the narrator speaks. 
     But sometimes the book I'm reading just doesn't grab my attention. I don't connect with the characters, or the writing is choppy, or the editing is lousy and there are typos in the text! If it's a library book, I happily return it and go on my merry way. But if I own it, the guilt settles in. It's there. I should read it.
     But why? Recent estimates indicate that more than 300,000 books are published by traditional presses each year.  Some sources estimate that if you add self published books, reprints of titles in the public domain, and other publications, you can add a zero to the above total.  Obviously, there's something for everyone -- and not everything is for me.  (Audible sigh.)
     So with many thanks to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! for pointing out the obvious, I will tell you what I've read in the past couple of weeks (leaving out at least one title I returned to the library before I finished it):
    The Lawgiver by Herman Wouk: A wonderful mix of fact and fiction. Wouk's character is real. What about the others? Is there really a movie about Moses in the works?
     Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan: Fast paced fun mix of history and technology. What secrets are hidden in the pages of the book you're reading?
     The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner: Chick lit with a happy ending. Listened to the audiobook. Great narrator.
     A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming. Second in a series. Getting bogged down in some of the descriptions, but I like the characters enough that I'm happy to keep reading.