musing on books

The queue of books by my bed is getting bigger again. It's not quite the leaning tower of death I had a few years ago, and I've got most of them on a chair that's far enough away from my pillow not to crush my head if they fall, but between the books I've bought over the past few months and the ones I keep getting out of the library it comes to quite a stack.

I have this distressing habit of not being able to pass a bookstore without going in and usually buying something. You could call me a bookaholic, & I have no intention of entering rehab, either. If this is a vice, it hurts nothing but my bank account.

Another part of the problem is my habit of surfing our library's web catalogue, where we can order as many books on reserve as we like, and have them delivered to our local branch. It's a wonderful system, but it can get out of hand. My tendency is to search out every book on a topic I get interested in, and either order it or put it on a wish list for later. I keep thinking I'll run out of "enthusiasms", but there always seems to be a new one around the corner.

Right now, I've got several topics on the go, including travel guides to northern Florida, consulting handbooks, a couple of mystery series whose authors I came across recently (Alan Gordon's Fools Guild series is one), and songbooks from the 60's and 70's.

It's not too hard to understand this grouping. I'm retiring soon, thus the consulting handbooks since I'm starting up a small consulting business. Soon after I retire we're taking a short trip to Florida, partly to escape some of the winter weather I've been grousing about. The songbooks are to get more material to work on with my voice coach (I take singing lessons for fun), and the novels are pure relaxation. I also like to alternate fiction and non-fiction, more or less, so that I have something to learn & something to read before I turn out the light.

I can't speak highly enough of our local public library system. We have access to books from across our entire region, both urban & rural libraries participate. They have DVDs and music CDs as well. We are very well served.

However, I still have that queue waiting for me to make my way through it. I'm sure I will, eventually. Probably a good thing I'm retiring!