2013 was a good year for me. I read thirty-three books. I know that, because I keep a list. I’ve kept a list since my college days. Every once in a while I read a book that seems familiar. I go back and check and find that I already read it. That’s old age setting in.

      I also know I read 33 books because I would write a review of each one and post it on Amazon.

     Now, 33 may not sound like a lot of books to some people, but for me, it is. The days when I could sit around and read for hours at a time are long gone. Life takes too much time away from reading. I could remember reading a novel in a day. That could never happen now. I can only remember two specific examples, widely disparate in content. “Breakfast Champions” by Kurt Vonnegut, and Shattered by K.R. Dwyer, a pen name for Dean Koontz. Both times I sat in the public library reference room and finished each novel.

     I checked my total for 2013 because 2014 is not off to a good start. It is nearing the end of March and I have read two books, though I’m close to finishing the third. I find that sad. I could justify my smaller reading totals if I could say that I spend all my time writing. Unfortunately, I can’t say that either. Life takes too much time away from writing.

     But now that I’ve finished writing this, let me get back to reading that novel.