Good books, old friends

But is it any more rational to want to spend every spare moment reading?

Probably not.

Yet, short of stopping the clock altogether, how else will I ever reach the end of my ever-growing list of titles with premises I simply have not the willpower to resist?

My reading addiction was bad enough when it was fueled only by information from print, radio and television media sources.

Now I must also contend with the vast number of internet sites which are only too happy to offer a whole slew of suggestions in answer to that proverbial question, "What do I read next?"

To give you some idea of my predicament, let me give you a brief tour of just a few of the spots I have discovered on the web where susceptible bibliophiles are in danger of finding themselves in a heap of trouble.

If you thought your own reading list was manageable, you will think twice after your first visit to www.booksense.com.

Every selection will make your imagination turn cartwheels at this eclectic on-line bookstore where independent booksellers flex their collective literary muscle. It was founded by the American Booksellers Association in 2003 to help the independents hold their own against superstores in both the real and virtual marketplaces.

Usually in the business for love rather than money, independents are not afraid to champion products which deserve to sell in addition to ones they know will sell.

This impractical but nevertheless admirable bravura is reflected in Book Sense - weekly bestseller lists and monthly "picks." Each are far superior to the increasingly predictable New York Times bestseller lists at revealing the true range of manuscripts that gets published.

For instance, among Book Sense - March picks you will find recommendations for everything from plot-driven novels by popular writers like T. Jefferson Parker to quirky memoirs by unknown scribblers like Josh Kilmer-Purcell.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to devour the latest Danielle Steel saga or James Patterson thriller. But, if you have an appetite for something different, something more substantive, Book Sense is the place to go.

Moving on, you will realize just how ridiculous it is to assume you can have a full life off as well as on the page after you have familiarized yourself with the Book Report Network - extensive web offerings.

With even more zeal than Book Sense, the decade-old New York City-based Network caters to readers of all ages and preferences at www.bookreporter.com, www.readinggroupguides.com, www.teenreads.com, www.kidsreads.com, www.faithfulreader.com, www.authorsontheweb.com and www.authoryellowpages.com.

Book Sense is content to woo its audience with succinct and highly effective single-paragraph endorsements.

Not the Network.

In stark contrast, it bombards its visitors with full-length reviews, author interviews, excerpts, detailed reading group guides and just about everything else you need to lead the quintessential life of letters. It even has recipes for the perfect refreshments to serve at your next book club meeting.

By the time you have posted your own reviews at various Network sites to qualify for free books, you will have long since abandoned any hope of imitating fiction instead of being consumed by it. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Similar to the Network - sites in scope and coverage is www.bookpage.com. It is the on-line version of the monthly publication Book Page: America - Book Review available at most public libraries.

When you were sure there could not possibly be yet another fatally intriguing plot to follow, the sinfully comprehensive Book Page will soon have you stalking several more. Its March issue alone contains news and reviews of 82 books with which you may not already be acquainted.

Finally, if Book Page does not quench your thirst for narratives which express your innermost thoughts better than you can, take a peek at www.nancypearl.com. At this charming little nook on the net, you will find Seattle-based book advocate and reviewer Nancy Pearl - most recent annotated lists of must-reads.

A former librarian still greatly esteemed by her former colleagues, Pearl is practically the Dalai Lama for anyone who agrees with F. Scott Fitzgerald that literature is where "you discover that all your longings are universal longings, that you're not alone and isolated from anyone."

Pearl now divides her time between public speaking engagements and lending her expertise to public broadcasting programs. She has also penned two books no librarian specializing in reader - advisory services dares to be without. Both published by Sasquatch Books, they are Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason (2003) and More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason (2005).

I was lucky enough to hear Pearl defend her singular "lust" for almost any manifestation of the written word at the 2005 American Library Association conference in Chicago.

The last thing I expected to gain from her fun and informative lecture was the comforting knowledge I am not the only person on the planet incapable of small talk. Amazingly enough, kindred spirit Pearl also is often too preoccupied with the emotional climate of whatever novel she is engrossed in to be remotely aware of such trivialities as the weather.

Pearl is particularly sharp at identifying what she calls "books of the minute." They are the volumes you must read as soon as they are released because, no matter how deftly crafted or critically acclaimed, they never gain a wide enough readership to justify remaining in print or on library shelves five years hence.

Pearl - site is also the best place to purchase that souvenir I know you will want of your cyberspace travels with me. In the Book Lust Shop, you can order your own copies of Pearl - incomparable reader - guides. Better yet you can buy the one item no bibliophilia collection can be complete without " a pointing and shushing librarian action figure in the spitting image of none other than Pearl.

Granted, they are by no means representative of all that is out there. But even if you are the most finicky reader in the whole wide world, these sites should help you locate at least one author whose use of the English language is acceptable to you.

If not … well … maybe you could at least work up to a double axel.

Kvasnicka, a former East Village Magazine news editor, has been the magazine - contributing editor and research consultant since 1989. She is the librarian at the Genesee District Library - Goodrich Branch.