This was the first year I ever kept track of my reading. I ended up with a total of 44 books or more. There are a few photography and dog training books that I never toted up, so it probably was around 50. But 8 or 9 of them were long audio books of 48 hours each or more, mostly Stephen King’s Dark Tower plus Under the Dome and The Stand. Books of Jacob was also a long book and not a quick read.
The audiobooks have been a revelation for me. They are available very easily by borrowing them from my Public Library with the Libby app. They play directly on the iPhone making it easy to “read” while in the car or engaged in simple activities like cooking or straightening where video just doesn’t work. Libby’s discovery mechanisms are rudimentary compared to what we have in the world of streaming music and video, so I need to go in with a list of titles or authors rather than category or type. This is one reason why I’ve been binging book series like The Dark Tower or now the Iain M. Banks Culture books. Oddly, Libby only has the first 3 or 4, so I may need to buy some, probably in the Apple Book app. I need to see whether Audible would actually be more economical. I should note as well that availability in Libby for big authors audiobooks is spotty, so it’s easier to stick to big names like King.
I struggle a bit to fit other reading into the day’s schedule, but it’s an ongoing project to map out the day and get priorities in. Reading for pleasure tends to be one of those activities that ends up toward the bottom. Priorities, I found, tend to reveal themselves in the choices we make rather than result from intention.