Tsundoku

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Tsundoku is a beautiful Japanese word for acquiring and piling up books without reading them.

It is constructed from two words that loosely mean "piling up" and "reading."

It's easy to fall prey to tsundoku. Immediately upon entering a bookstore, I'm filled with the promise of knowledge and entertainment that exudes from the books. Each book calls out to share its wisdom and the draw of quiet hours spent reading it.

Given that it takes hours to read most books and only moments to buy them, practising tsundoku is a common pastime.

The sketch is loosely based on my parents’ bedroom while I grew up, both of whom are experienced and talented tsundoku-ers/tsundokists.

This sketch and many other word-related sketches appear in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures. I won't be offended if the book makes it into a beautiful pile—just please pop it at the top.

Also see:

3,500 Lifetime Reads—the number of books you might read in a lifetime

Published 23 Mar 2019

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