What Am I Reading?

(My response to this question, which was asked in one of my online communities):

I have far too many books! Sometimes I cull, but then more come in to replace the ones I discard. I have so many books piled up by my bedside that I had to buy some special shelves.

(It's an old TV cabinet really, all I could find second-hand, but it does the job. However I wouldn't want to try adding too many more books.)

I already had bookshelves galore all over the house, crammed. And now I am rapidly filling my Kobo e-reader and the Kindle app on my iPad.

I hate to give away old favourites in case I want to read them again some day – and indeed, this does happen. I have been known to buy new copies of books I regretted getting rid of.

What am I reading now? Circles on the Water, poems by Marge Piercy, published in 1982. I lent my copy, decades ago, to a woman who was dying. Her family threw all her books away after she died, without realising they didn’t all belong to her. I finally thought to look for it on Amazon, very recently, and my copy has now been delivered. To my surprise and delight it was available new, so that's what I got, but I would have taken it in any condition rather than continue without it.

On my iPad I am reading Triangles by David Reiter. He is an Aussie poet, but this book is short stories, and they are brilliant. I have also made a start on Akhenaten, a historical/spiritual book by my friend Karin Hannah. It is beautifully written. I have an excellently produced printed copy with her autograph, but prefer reading it as an ebook, for convenience. Much as I love books, I am one who has come to like the ebook experience better in many ways.