Colin Reads

I have always been an avid reader. I get it from my dad. He always had a book or two going.

I have a lot of books. A ton of books. Many that I have read. Far too many I have not. It pains me when I look and see some that I bought in college and have still not read. (looking at you, Mr LeCarre)

I opened my comics book store (pittsburghcomics.com) in 2006 and it put a crimp in my reading. I felt that I should be reading comics to sell rather than spending my time reading books. But it did not keep me from buying books.

I still read occasionally, but certainly not as much as before.

Then the Covid shutdown hit. I was laying on the sofa looking at a bookshelf. It contained all of my John D. MacDonald books. I had read all of the Travis McGee books in college, but I spent years gathering all of his books. 70 some books. All arranged in publication order. Staring at me. I realized that it was pretty dumb scouring used books stores and ebay and elsewhere getting all of these only to leave them unread.

So I started reading. In 2021, I set a goal for myself. Read a book a month. Not a huge goal, but a goal. Good news, I read 13 that year. Bad news, I had a heart attack and a quadruple bypass that July.

All is well now. All recovered. Better plumbing. But an increased goal. I have all of these books. They aren’t going to read themselves. And now the reality of life truly being short has kind of kicked my butt into gear. It’s time to read. I really don’t need to watch that episode of The Office again or waste my time watching happy news in the morning.

Aside from live sports, my TV viewing has decreased dramatically. It’s on in the background (although thanks to Spotify and an Echo, I’m filling the background with music more than TV lately), but I’d rather be reading than vegging out to TV.

Reading makes me feel productive. It’s a good feeling. Because with my day job, many days I feel like I’m just running on a treadmill. So, finishing a book and writinging a Goodreads review feels good.

But why not take it a step further. Why not make a little blog of my own? Why not create a place where I can put out my thoughts, show off my successes.

If someone else wants to read it, cool. If not, no worries. I do not have an ego that demands fulfillment. This is just for me. But I thought I’d throw it out there for everyone to see.

One thing that I have really enjoyed at the store is talking with people about books. Sharing books.I’ve always loved talking comics, so talking books is really just a natural offshoot.

Maybe this can become another place for that. We’ll see, won’t we.