Stop the Presses! We're Still Reading

I was at a loss for something to blog about today until I read Amanda's latest post - Back in the Swing of Reading. It's nice to know there are other people out there who enjoy reading as much as Agnes and I do.

Some of my earliest memories involve my parents reading to me, and I in turn read to my own children and now my grandchildren. From the "See Spot run" primers, Dr Seuss, and Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories all the way to the novels and current events and history books I enjoy reading today, reading has always been an important part of my life.

At any given time, I'm usually reading three books: my Nightstand Book, my Commuting Book, and my Dining Table Book. At the moment, the Nightstand Book is American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps, edited by Peter Straub; the Commuting Book is The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, by David Halberstam; and the Dining Table Book is Dracula: the Un-Dead, by Dacre Stoker.

Yes, Agnes and I read while we eat. There's plenty of time to talk during the rest of the day.

I usually have a stack of books waiting to be read, a running note on my iPhone where I can list the books that have caught my eye that I want to read, and a few books on reserve at the local library that I want to read, but don't want to buy at the moment.

So many books, so little time.

Amanda writes about her mother maintaining that it was a waste of money to buy books when there are libraries available...my own mother's position was that it's never a waste of money to buy books if they're books you really enjoy and may want to read again. There are a few authors whose books I'll always buy, but most of the time now I'll check the book out of the library to read, then buy it if I liked it enough to spend the money.

We have lots of books. At the moment, there are about 10 large boxes of old books in the garage - victims of our most recent attempt to free up shelf space - that are waiting to be donated to the library or the Salvation Army...and we still don't have enough space for all the books we have. Agnes has been moving toward her new Sony Reader Touch Edition, which holds hundreds of books in a digital format, saving lots of space (and weight, when traveling), but at the moment, I'm still too much of a traditionalist to go digital with my reading. I like the feel, the weight, and the smell of a book that's ink on paper. I like being able to highlight, underline, and make notes. Somehow, for all its advantages, a digital reader just isn't for me...at least right now.

Well, I could go on and on, but this is cutting into my reading time.

Have a good day. Read more. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo