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How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read
How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read | Pierre Bayard
In this delightfully witty, provocative book, literature professor and psychoanalyst Pierre Bayard argues that not having read a book need not be an impediment to having an interesting conversation about it. (In fact, he says, in certain situations reading the book is the worst thing you could do.) Using examples from such writers as Graham Greene, Oscar Wilde, Montaigne, and Umberto Eco, he describes the varieties of "non-reading"-from books that you've never heard of to books that you've read and forgotten-and offers advice on how to turn a sticky social situation into an occasion for creative brilliance. Practical, funny, and thought-provoking, How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read-which became a favorite of readers everywhere in the hardcover edition-is in the end a love letter to books, offering a whole new perspective on how we read and absorb them.
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shawnmooney
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https://youtu.be/amyjmHAEauo?si=NcADMCNAQDMo5C1H

‘Is that unread book making you feel guilty? You‘re not alone‘ by Stephanie Merry in the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/09/04/unread-books/

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UnabridgedPod
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I cannot tell you how much fun we had talking with Whitney Conard of The Unread Shelf for this episode of Unabridged. We chatted all things books, why it's helpful to count your unread books, and favorite teas (spoiler alerts: I don't really drink tea!). Listen to pick up some tips for tackling your own unread shelves, to learn all about Whitney's journey, and to move forward with some powerful goals.⠀

How do you deal with YOUR unread books?

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twohectobooks
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Pickpick

My second #audiobook ever was excellent. It‘s basically about how, all things considered, it‘s sort of nonsense to say you‘ve read a book or haven‘t. There are just books that you‘re more or less familiar with, and that you have opinions about them. I‘m not explaining this very well. Suffice it to say that when the line about the Bible being a “book unknown to me, negative opinion” came up, I laughed out loud.

mcctrish This sounds great ! 5y
18 likes1 comment
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julesG
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I didn't know I was missing this.

It'll go right onto the top of my wishlist.

#readingretreat

Crazeedi Hmmm...intriguing! 6y
GingerAntics 🤣😂🤣 I could have used this for grad school. 🤣😂🤣 This is going on my wishlist, too. 6y
revenge4porgy Has anyone read this yet 5y
julesG @revenge4porgy There's only one Review about it, here on Litsy. I haven't read it yet. 5y
95 likes7 stack adds4 comments
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TheBee
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The Japanese have a word for it 🤓.
Books can indeed be lovely home accessories, right?
Check out this short article on BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44981013

#unread #pileofbooks #tbr #bookcollector #tsundoku #litsywelcomewagon

EKonrad This. Is. Me! 6y
TheBee @EKonrad 🤣👍🏻 6y
WritethebookAnniemae 🤣👍🏽👏🏼 6y
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ReadingOver50 Awesome 😎 6y
Karkar I so practice this! 6y
Tanner I love that the Japanese have an actual word for it. ❤️👍🏻 6y
Eggs Welcome 👋🏻🌸 6y
TheBee @eggs Hi! And thanks!! 🧚🏻‍♀️ 6y
39 likes8 comments
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Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick
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Part 2 of the haul. I'm hoping the tagged book is helpful because there are always people at these sales who want to talk about books I haven't read, even after saying I never read it (or any of their books, in fact).

britt_brooke Ooh, Sedaris and Vonnegut - two of my favorites! Nice haul. 🙌🏻 6y
Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick @britt_brooke Thanks! I haven't read Sedaris yet but enjoyed Slaughter House Five so thought I'd take a chance on these. 6y
17 likes2 comments
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Suelizbeth
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Books, books, everywhere, and I can‘t make myself pick one up for more than a few minutes. I haven‘t had a serious reading session in a few days. Is it the weather? A breakdown in my book organizing, for sure. Although, I do know which ones are read and which are to be read. And believe me, there are more books lurking in other corners of the room. And what do I do? You guessed it. I buy more books. *sigh*

blondie I can relate so much! 7y
rather_be_reading love it 😍😍 7y
109 likes2 comments
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2BR02B
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Today's WotD is relevant to my interests. Are you a repository of booklore?

RaimeyGallant Cool. 7y
51 likes1 comment
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diovival
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Has anyone played around with this yet? #talktobooks

https://books.google.com/talktobooks/

Liatrek No but this looks interesting. 7y
diovival @Liatrek First thing I thought of: Challenges 🔍 7y
Liatrek @diovival Me Too! I always wish Good Reads had this feature. 7y
diovival @Liatrek That would be very cool. I would settle for decent book search results though. 7y
26 likes4 comments
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Librariana
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Friends, Littens,
Back in January, I posted this #bulletjournal spread over on Instagram to share my intention to participate in the #unreadshelfproject and how I would approach the task as a whole. It's slightly embarrassing to admit this number, but I know Litsy is a safe space where I won't be judged, can hold myself accountable, and share my progress. So far, 5 down and working on 2 more. Might get tricky with a move in the near future!

#bujo

Ash.on.the.line Love this spread! Also I have more than that so no shame lol! 😅 7y
TheWordJar Another gorgeous spread! And look at the progress you‘re making!! 👏👏👏 Onward we go...always reading! 7y
Beachesnbooks It's really hard to make progress with a physical tbr! I get distracted so often by new books. I'm trying to track my reading of books I bought before vs during 2018 to help myself stay on track but it's not working great. Also, I just bought a journal to start bullet journaling next month! Excited 😄 7y
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GondorGirl I love both this idea and this spread! Good luck with your challenge! 7y
Buddys_Momma That is lovely 😊 What an awesome way to work towards your goal!! 7y
Anitareads Beautiful spread! 👍 7y
Hooked_on_books How‘s this for embarrassing: I have over 1000 unread books. 😳 I‘m not sure how I let that happen, but there you go. My main goal this year is to buy fewer physical books than I read from my collection so I can pare down. We‘ll see if I succeed! I think you‘re doing great on yours so far. 😉 7y
Librariana @Hooked_on_books - In all honesty, Holly, I'm just completely guilty of putting other books first and thinking that I'll get to the ones I have at home eventually because... well, they'll always be there waiting for me when I need them, y'know? I guess I take them for granted ?? I do share your main goal though in that I won't be buying any new books until my "allowed scheduled purchases" (lol!) ? So for now, it's to wish lists we go! ??? 7y
Librariana @Anitareads - Thank you! 😊 Tonight I finished working on a brand new spread that'll hopefully help hold me a little more accountable and encourage me to read the titles I have here at home 😁💜📚 7y
Librariana @Buddys_Momma - Thank you so much! I'm currently stuck on figuring out the best way to track all this reading and further push myself to *really* holding myself accountable... because I've already failed on the library front - lol! I currently have four books out! In my defense, I'm listening to one and the other I finished about two weeks ago, but I gotta go through the book lists in it 😁 7y
lauraodom I recently pulled most of my unread books to the same shelf next to my bed so they‘re sitting there staring at me... it doesn‘t account for the additional (probably more) unread books on my kindle, but it‘s a start. Of course I‘m currently reading something that came in the mail last week... 😳 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Great plan! I joined Goodreads #MountTBR group to help me tackle mine.... but honestly I‘d be afraid to actually count them all (especially on my kindle) 7y
DivaDiane Don‘t be so hard on yourself! 140 is at least 1/3 of my total of physical books (not mentioning the ebooks!)! Join us on the #MountTBRchallenge. Low key, but definitely accountability! And @Hooked_on_books (edited) 7y
Librariana Apologies for the late reply, @lauraodom! 😊💜 I think having most of your unread books in one place AND in a place that is visible to you is a good idea! I currently have the bulk of my unread adult fiction on the first and second shelves of its bookcase, followed by the ones I have read. I'm trying to get to the point where the READ books outnumber the unread 😁 7y
Librariana @DivaDiane - Thank you for being both comforting AND non-judgmental ??? I'll definitely give some thought to the "MountTBR Challenge" if I don't see myself making more progress! 7y
Librariana @Riveted_Reader_Melissa - Thanks for letting me know about the Goodreads group! 😄 How are you tracking your progress? 😊💖 I'm always curious about how others document their reading. 7y
Librariana Apologies for the late reply, @GondorGirl, but thank you so much for your kind compliment and your wishes of good luck! 😄🍀 They're both appreciated! 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Librariana I‘m listing them in the Goodreads group and I made a page in my book for mine. I‘ll tag you on my post here. 7y
Librariana This is what I'm referring to, @Clwojick 😊 I've heard about #mountTBR from other Littens, but the #unreadshelfproject is something that first gained traction over on Instagram. I've made a second bullet journal spread to better track my progress and zero in on books I'd really like to read from my own shelves... from those 140... well, 141 now 😂 A little similar to you having us Littens help you pick! 7y
Clwojick I honestly don‘t think I could include all my unread books in my form I‘m creating. There‘s way too many! Haha 7y
DivineDiana @Clwojick I‘m with you! 7y
60 likes21 comments
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Sarahandhella
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I plan on making more bookish jewelry because I love it.

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moarbookspleaze
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I tried to squeeze in one more book but it didn‘t happen. #readin2017

LeahBergen 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 7y
Redwritinghood 👏👏👏👏 7y
48 likes2 comments
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volatilestatic
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Pickpick

SB++

6 likes1 stack add
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TheBookAddict
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When I read a book & it's so good I want to talk about it to someone, I always end up trying to push it on my husband. I tell him he needs to read it ASAP, but he usually gives me the "really?!?" look, grabs it, & tells me that he already has plenty that he needs to read on his TBR shelf. So it end up on his shelf just gathering dust?. If anyone is reading a book I'm reading & would like to discuss it while or after we finish, let me know. ???

TheBookAddict I have already finish reading You and One of the Boys. 8y
Notafraidofwords I've never read Marquez. I find him so intimidating. 8y
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TheBookAddict @Notafraidofwords I thought the same, but decided to take the plunge this year. I read Stories of My Melancholy Whores (I believe I got the title right) and it was short but it packed quite a punch. It's not like something fantastical is happening, it's more of an everyday life struggles that the character is going through but it is still nicely written and it tackles some tough topics. His stories are definitely not a cup of tea for everyone. 8y
Notafraidofwords @TheBookAddict im gonna give him a chance. 8y
Yanes I would love to do that... I keep my eyes open for a book that we might have in common. 8y
Gissy I will like to read You! 8y
TheBookAddict @Notafraidofwords 🙌🏽 let me know how it goes! 8y
TheBookAddict @Yanes awesome, that would be nice! 🙌🏽 8y
TheBookAddict @Gissy yep, it was really interesting and creepy. 8y
63 likes1 stack add10 comments
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Posh_Salad..AKA..LazyLimaLife
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New books for the wishlist....

8 likes2 stack adds
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RebeccaH
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This is what I'm going to have to do because I ain't reading much these days.

shawnmooney Ha – I think you're not reading so much these days because you've already read absolutely everything! :-) Anyway, all kidding aside, nice to see you back around here on Litsy… 8y
RebeccaH Ha, thank you @shawnmooney!! Trying to get back into my regular life, more or less. 8y
34 likes2 comments