MemeMachineGo!

The one problem with the whole stalking the library thing is the lack of control over timing. Last week, I was excited to receive notice that the new Jonathan Lethem novel, Fortress of Solitude was in.

When I went to the library to pick it up, I found out that in the meantime, Quicksilver, the new Neal Stephenson, had arrived.

Fortress of Solitude isn’t a short book. Quicksilver is a very long one.

Now, the rules on holding books still hearken back to the days when they snailmailed notification. One has ten days from when it hits the hold shelf, so as to give one time after the notice arrives. I could have left it there for a week and a half.

But there’s a stack of holds on it, and I’d’ve felt bad about that. So now I’ve got under three weeks left to read some 1400 pages.

As problems go, it’s a pretty good one.