2014 and 2015 sure went by fast!  I ended 2013 with a firm resolution to keep up with writing about reading, and look what happened.  Or didn’t happen: no posts in two years.  This year, when the annual renewal for the website came around again, the choice was to shut everything down, or get serious about writing.  So I’ll get started and see how long I can go this time.

I’ve been doing almost all my reading on my Kindle.  Between eBooks from the Charleston County Public Library (CCPL), Kindle Daily Deals, Kindle Unlimited and an occasional eBook purchase, I can read a lot without spending a lot.  CCPL’s selection is wildly uneven, but I have been able to borrow an amazing variety of books that I’ve really wanted to read.  Then I’ll hit a dead spot where none of the books I want are available, then I’ll hit another hot streak.  Read a review of a new book, find it at CCPL, borrow it, read it, all without leaving home or spending a dime.  Love Charleston County’s great eBook library, also our fantastic county parks.

The useful thing about Kindle, for my current purposes, is that Amazon keeps a list of all the books I’ve bought or borrowed so I’ve been able to put together a pretty comprehensive roundup of what I’ve read in the last two years.  They don’t keep a list of the books I’ve gotten with my Kindle Unlimited subscription though, which is a shame.  I haven’t read many new books at all in dead tree format, and most of them were memorable non-fiction books that made it into the roundup too.

I did another huge book cull last year, and donated many boxes of books to the Friends of the Charleston County Public Library.  I never go to their giant book sales though; I don’t want to be tempted to buy any of my old books back.

Still have dozens of books on my Kindle that I’ve bought over the years and haven’t yet gotten around to reading.  And even after two major book culls since we moved here, I still have plenty of books on the shelves.  Always nice to have an old Maron or Paretsky or Christie or Gilman at hand when I just want to spend a little time with old friends.