650

That is how many books I read in the last decade. And no, I'm not going to list them all for you.

Actually it's not quite right because I didn't start keeping track until the end of May 2000. Based on the books listed at the beginning of my list, it was apparently just after I finished my library school class on YA literature.

Irony: I went to library school so that I wouldn’t be stuck in a dead-end paraprofessional job. Ten years later, not only am I in a paraprofessional job but it’s temporary. Ah, well – I’ve had several other professional jobs since then and my resume is starting to look quite impressive, so they tell me. But still, it's food for thought.

I considered trying to pick out my favorite books of the decade but the task is way too daunting. Still, it was interesting to skim through my little notebook and see some of the things I read back then. For example, remember how I just read Amy & Isabelle recently and loved it? Well, I read it back in 2001 and didn't remember a thing about it. I wonder what I thought of it back then? Maybe my younger self didn't like it nearly so much, or perhaps it didn't make an impression because I just wasn't in the mood for it at the time. I've also read Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston twice and still can't recall what it's about. Yet also way back in 2001 I read Gone Boy by Gregory Gibson and still remember it so vividly that I've recommended it to patrons in the last few years. Isn't it funny how some books stick with us and some are just so fleeting? It's a little sad actually, because I'm tempted to think that if I didn't read in such quantity, I would remember the books better. But I don't think that's true.

I wonder if I'll still be keeping a list of every book that I read ten years from now. And I wonder if I'll still use the same little notebook. I wonder if I'll still be blogging, or if that will even exist.

Enough reflection for one decade. Onward!