Kindled!

I went to the pub last night.

That - I hasten to add - is not something I do at all frequently.  Indeed, the last time I had been to a pub was as long ago as Monday, when the Old Bat and I, along with a whole bunch of friends and acquaintances, enjoyed a pub lunch.  But back to last night.

It wasn't quite what I might call my local but was, probably, the next nearest.  It was heaving.  The hot weather had brought out families galore and there were hordes of screaming kids scootering (is that a word?) in the car park.

But I was only there to book their side hall for the oldies Christmas party being arranged by the Lions.  So that's another job crossed off the list.  I must ring the entertainer in the hope that he will be available on our chosen day.

Meanwhile, I have been trying to decide whether or not I am pleased that I bought a Kindle.  I have now read a couple of books on it while at the same time reading real books.  No, no, no - I didn't have the Kindle in one hand and a paperback in the other.  I didn't really read them both literally at the same time; I swapped backwards and forwards between the two.  That meant two books on the go. Simultaneously.  It might have been interesting to try reading the same book both ways, ie a chapter (or segment) on the Kindle, then carry on from the stopping point with a real book.  But no, I would just get confused about where I had got to and end up reading the same bits three times or more.

The Kindle does have convenience on its side, but I'm not entirely sure that I like reading from a screen, even if I can hold that screen in the same position that I hold the printed page.  And it's strange that I can absorb information from the printed page better than from the screen.  And then again, with the Kindle I can easily carry a whole library with me.

Talking of which, I seem to have become addicted to buying books! I have always been a miserly reader, preferring to borrow books from the public library than to buy them.  It's not only a matter of cost; there's also the little matter of storage!  But several of the books I have downloaded are classics which have been free.  I can now go ahead and read many of the books I have always been meaning to read but have never done.  And if I don't like one, I can stop reading without my conscience telling me that I spent good money on that book so I had better get on and read all of it.

Will I ever get round to War and Peace, I wonder?

Which title reminds me that the OB and I were worried last night when we saw the 10 o'clock news and the first item was the gun attack in Munich.  Our new daughter-in-law works in the city and had returned there only last Wednesday for a few days.  As soon as we saw the news, I rang my son, who had only a few minutes before heard from his wife that she had - eventually - managed to get home safely.

And there's another book on the Kindle.