Books and The Amazing Race

I might have mentioned that I have a few books.  In fact, I have about sixty-five pages of books, give or take a duplicate entry or two.  I do read them; these aren't for show.  Karen has counseled me to keep only those books that are friends.  My response was that the books that I still had were either friends or books I hadn't read yet.  I do get rid of books, just not as many as the former librarian would prefer.

My tastes in reading are eclectic.  If I had to give broad categories, I'd say they fall into one of these groupings:  Ireland, Americana, Classics, Military History, Sports, Spain/Spanish, Travel, Espionage, Biographies, Reference.  There is some overlap between categories, e.g., a biography of Chesty Puller is included in the military history section even though it could just as easily fall in the biography section, but most books fall easily into one specific category.  If I find a book that I loathe, it gets donated.  I just happen to like most of the books I have.  To paraphrase my late aunt Joyce, I like most of the books since I chose them.

One of the reasons I keep so many books is that I refer to them.  In the course of writing things, I find that certain things I've read come back to me and I need to be able to quote them accurately.  Call it anal retentive, but it's what I do.  And for anyone who thinks I'm faking it, I can show you in my writings where I've actually used my own library as reference materials.

I say this because when we moved into our apartment, I had to cull some books out to read for the next year.  I did this because the majority of my library was going to remain in boxes until we moved next July. The books I chose were as diverse as I could find.  One of them that I just finished is Yemen:  The Unknown Arabia, by Tim Mackintosh-Smith.  I may have mentioned that the Arab world intrigues me, but Yemen is one place I'll never see in all likelihood.  

Biographies give me insights into people whom I admire or about whom I'm curious but will never meet. Travel books do what Yemen did for me.  Military history and sports books allow me to see what happened with explanations as to how and why they happened.  As one can see, books give me information that I'd never have otherwise.

The Amazing Race ("TAR") does the same thing.  Apart from the beautiful pictures of places to which the show travels, the show avoids many of the pitfalls of most reality shows.  It also incorporates cultural elements and explains them.  Sure, there isn't that much substance, and the cultural elements are props for the competition, but the combination of the cultural and the scenic is riveting to me.  Karen thinks the show has jumped the shark, but I still find all the places they go fascinating.  It also helps me learn what places I have no interest in ever visiting, and confirms my thoughts on other places.  TAR is in a sense a video library that I can use to further and refine my travel interests.

I wonder whether, when I'm in my dotage, I'll still be this curious.  My bet is that I will be.

(c) 2013 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles