I have been trying to become a reader again. Well, a good reader.
A reader who is capable of maintaining his attention span for 1,000+ words. Maybe even a reader who can finish more than one book a year.
But my desire to read is held back not just by my attention span, but also by how damn expensive it is to read books on my Kindle. 1
I have tried to get around this by using Libby, an app that partners with your local library to rent digital books for free. But in over a year of having Libby installed on my iPhone and iPad, I have not successfully read one book from the platform.
It seems every book, no matter the genre or date of publish, is forever doomed to a wait list that lasts for months.
Now, this isn't completely Libby's fault. There are other books, I am sure, worth reading. But I am basic, tired and sort of moody. As a result, I have no interest in finding that "diamond in the rough."
Give me that sweet, sweet social proof, so I can make a reasonable bet that the book I'm going to read is worth fighting against my ADHD.
So what's the solution? In an ideal world, it would be so easy to find ePub formats of the books I want to read I could pirate them with a quick Google search.
But what I'll have to settle for, in the meantime, is accepting that I will be paying Daddy Bezos quite a lot of money until my local library buys a lot more books.
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You may be thinking, "Holden, this is a problem you can solve by purchasing used physical books." To that I say: It's 2022, and I will not be shamed for refusing to romanticize a format that doesn't have a backlight, won't let me change the font size when my eyes are tired, and simply adds to my collection of flammable items. ↩