On Reading

I love to read--magazines, newspapers, books. I do a lot of reading of blogs. The problem is, I've bought too many books. My bookshelves won't hold any more. They're piling up in the bedroom we've converted into an office, in the living room, and in the other spare bedroom.

Yet I want to support those who are writing new books espousing my pet causes.

I guess I'm going to have to get off my duff and take some of those I've read to the used book store and trade them in. I'll come away with fewer books than I carry in, but the problem is, I don't want to part with enough of them. Yes, I know I'll probably never crack one open again, but I feel some sort of security holding onto them. I look at the titles piled up gathering dust, and I can congratulate myself on my erudite research.

Meanwhile, I get e-mails advertising new books that state ideas I want to read, and by the time they reach the library, the Bush Administration will probably be over. I have books stashed away from the Nixon Administration I never got around to reading then, but lately, I've been reading all the books I've bought, plus those I get every month from booksfree.com.

That service, by the way, is one of the best sources I've come across to keep up with my favorite authors (e.g., Robert B. Parker, Lawrence Block, Kay Hooper--a fellow native of Forest City and East Rutherford High graduate--Kathy Reichs, also from North Carolina, and my latest discovery, Mark de Castrique, another North Carolinian) without having to buy the books. After I read them I send them back and get more.

Now, if only I had time to read all the magazines I want to read....