I could not imagine living without a good book. 

I've been to peoples houses, where there were no books or even magazines about. I never understood that.  Ignorance is bliss, I suppose...

 Sue

20 minutes ago, Penzoil3 said:

I've been to peoples houses, where there were no books or even magazines about. I never understood that.  Ignorance is bliss, I suppose...

 Sue

I can understand the magazines part. I used to buy tons of golf, skiing, aviation, and simming magazines from the late 80’s into the early 2000’s. Once tablets and iPads came into existence I stopped purchasing them. Probably saved me a fair amount of money since my monthly magazine costs were around $40. I was able to find plenty of reading materials online for free , so magazines lost their appeal.

I don't pay extra for Audible on Kindle. The standard canned readers are good enough for me. I do read with my eyes while listening to the reader at the same time.

Most versions of those old iPods also have mechanical voices to read text files, such as the free vintage books in .txt format on Gutenberg. These Apple devices are great when you just want to listen because those newer old iPods are tiny as a wristwatch. One even comes with a wriststrap to wear it like a watch. Modern generic brand eReader devices are also quite cheap on Amazon, cheaper than a refurbished iPod if not as good in quality, they do work.

The publishing industry is word not allowed now. 120,000 words is considered pushing the boundaries, and with YA hot and women buying 99.9% of fiction there are a lot of very bitter writers these days. (Writers have always been bitter, though.) My publisher folded so I guess it’s self-publishing on Amazon, which is like tossing your manuscript into the middle of the Pacific Ocean unless you have 100,000+ feed followers.

Thick, juicy books like The Source (one of my favorites) are out of fashion with a few exceptions that prove the rule.

But I’m hoping Santa brings Colors in the Sky, a history of Court Line, which improbably operated some of the first L1011 TriStars out of EGGW Luton of all places. There HAS to be an interesting story behind that. When I read, it’s non-fiction, which is ironic for a fiction writer.
 

The last novel I read was Love in the Ruins by Walker Percy—seemed appropriate for these days. Followed by his Lost in the Cosmos—The Last Self-Help Book You’ll Ever Need. Both were great. I am trying to read some St. Bonaventure. He represents the Neo-Platonic branch of theology that got pushed into the background by Aquinas’ reliance on Aristotle. It’s... challenging.

I do Kindle and Audible mostly. An honest-to-goodness book has to be something special, like Jung’s Red Book. So special I can barely lift it, much less read it!

Thanks Noel

Busy with Alaska now, good read, AND more than a 1000 pages whoop whoop

 

We're really lucky here. Our county library system has a quite large catalog of audiobooks. I had no idea they had anything like that until I got a tip from a neighbor. I'd encourage anyone with a Library close-by to check as they may have audiobooks also.

Michners books are very good.. Hawaii  , especially. Its been awhile since Ive read any of his stuff but I remember Alaska being good too. and Potomac. I too have a Kindle but use it more to watch videos than read, however there is a wealth of audiobooks uploaed to youtube and its enjoyable aswell.

Potomac Amelia?  Don't you mean Chesapeake?

Noel

For all of us jet-jockey wannabes, I think Michener's "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" is a must read. A really good book...and the movie isn't bad either.