Earlier this year, when The New York Times featured a man who had recorded every book he’d read over many years, I thought about my friend Linda Lightfoot, who’s kept a similar list for two decades.

The Times' story about Dan Pelzer, a resident of Columbus, Ohio, who died in July at 92, got lots of attention. Pelzer had kept a list of his reading since 1962, logging 3,599 titles before his eyesight gave out two years ago. Pelzer’s family has created a website to share his list at what-dan-read.com .

Lightfoot, a retired newspaper editor and my former boss, started her list in 2005.

“That was a period of time when I discovered books on tape,” she recalled. “I was fascinated by this new ability to listen to books while doing laundry, putting on makeup or cooking.”

Whether she was liste

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