Unread Books

I have many books on my kindle, over 400. Even this does not stop me purchasing a book which sounds interesting. I know I need to read faster and get through as many as I can each year. I am sure there are many other people in the same position, we are bookaholics who no longer need to use libraries and love the selection from Amazon or other online book websites.

Many of these books live up to their promise of being interesting, the kind one cannot put down, informative, stories full of human interest and passion. I have left novels on my kindle for ages thinking they looked boring only to find I cannot bear to go and do other things as once started the book has gripped me in its tentacles. Stories of the vast Australian panorama, war stories of people escaping the grip of the Nazis, books about people rising above some trauma in their lives, fun stories of travel and adventure. As I trawl through the kindle app looking for my next good read I pass by some that are enticing and others that look uninviting. Often I move it up an down several times before choosing a book which looks interesting.

Once chosen I delve into these books immediately hoping to be transported to another world far away from my mundane existence. On more than one occasion lately these books have disappointed. I got almost a third of the way through a book titled 'The Jew Store' until I began to realise I was bored. I do not have a penchant for American stories. This book is now sitting watching me in the hope I may decide in a rash moment to return to it soon. I moved on to 'My Father's Gardens'  which seems to have very little to do about gardening but is more about the lifestyle of a young girl whose father moves them constantly between Israel and the United States for work as a Professor. It is a very interesting account of a childhood growing up in Israel as she mentions little of her years spent in the US. Her mother is very controlling and even when she was doing her compulsory military service threatened to ring the colonel and ask him to escort her daughter home. This level of control took some moving around and the daughter finally seems to be finding ways to avoid her mother's overbearing ways. Interesting, I realise I have little knowledge of the author's name, I think it is Karen.

I find myself critical of people who feel kindles are the wrong way to read books, without a kindle app I would have little access to new and exciting reads, to older books I want to read to expand my knowledge on a subject, and the chance to read something light and frivolous. They are a real boon to the blind and vision impaired allowing us another level of equality.