Books Remembered and Forgotten

My friend Mary V. recently asked me if I generally remember the books I read. I had to answer that in many cases the answer is "no." Sometimes books, especially genre books such as mysteries, are written and read for entertainment, and are soon forgotten. Other more "literary" books are just not very memorable. But the main reason for forgetting so many books is that there are just too many to remember. In my case, I read about 100 books a year, and have been doing so for many years, so it would be impossible to remember all of them. When I look through the list of "Books Read" that I have kept since I was ten years old (see my posts of 1/24/10 and 1/25/10 about this list), many of the titles bring few or no specific memories to mind. But I believe that all the books we read leave traces of themselves on our minds. I also believe that what we learn from and remember about books is cumulative: as we read more and more, and as the various reading experiences intersect and intertwine in our minds, we are constantly expanding and enhancing our universes of experience and imagination, and we are infinitely enriched by the complex worlds we as readers contain.