In general, I would say the life of a Master’s of Library and Information Science (MLIS) student, is pretty great. We get to learn all about an institution as hallowed as the library and we get to spend our class-time with other compulsively organized and readerly people. My only complaint would be a catch-22 that faces many of us: we decided to get an MLIS degree because we love to read, yet we have no time to read for fun while class is in session. This horrible state of affairs, however, is broken up several times a year by vacations, which allow us the opportunity to intellectually gorge on the books we have been dying to read. This Winter Vacation I picked up three wonderful books that helped remind me why I love to read.
The first of these books was The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross. In The Rest is Noise, Ross does nothing less than recap the political and cultural life of Europe and America in the twentieth century through the lens of classical music. Ross masterfully relates the major events of the era to the lives and music of classical composers and deftly writes of the works themselves in a way that makes the music come alive.
In anticipation of this year’s Seattle Reads selection My Jim by Nancy Rawles, I decided to revisit Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain’s mastery of colloquial speech and biting and often absurd wit makes this a book worth multiple readings. The humor, combined with the summery and warm setting, also made this a perfect pick for getting through the dark skies and inconveniences of December’s wintry weather.
The last book I read over the break was Everything is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger. In this book, Weinberger discusses the ways in which the move from paper to electronic-bits as the medium for the world’s information is dramatically affecting how people interact with information. Weinberger argues in a computer-driven information environment it may be better to leave data disorganized than create an artificially restrictive organizational structure. In lesser hands, this topic could be woefully boring, but Weinberger keeps the reader’s interest piqued and intellect stimulated through drawing examples from topics as varied as the construction of the Dewey Decimal System to the disorganized silverware drawers of young bachelors
As I get back to my classes, I am excited for all the interesting things I will be learning and to see friends and classmates, but I can’t help but be saddened as my pleasure reading is reduced to a trickle. Though, I do have the solace of knowing that Spring Break is only a few months away!
~ Erik R.
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