I was blessed with the library of outdoor spaces; I learned more!

Reading is one of the few pleasures left to me: but it has been many years since I experienced the musty smell, and the drab and rude council employees calling themselves “librarians”.

Books are too expensive to buy in hard copy versions, thanks to government coddling of the few decent Australian writers, so I buy Google eBooks at a fraction of the price. Nothing is ever ‘out of print’. Obtaining them is much quicker and quieter than any library; there is not only one copy of most books, and there is no chance of running into groups of small children being entertained by perverts dressed as women.

And now, I understand, books not in line with the ideology of petty public servants are being removed from shelves.

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I have more books stacked in the bookshelves that cover the walls of my apartment than I could ever hope to read in my lifetime.

Despite that, I am still tempted to buy more books from time to time – but, funnily enough, rarely by contemporary authors. Not what I would call literary works. I am more interested in content than form, provided it is well written and pleasant to read. Mostly non-fiction and fiction based on, or inspired by, real-life experience.

I am also inclined to favour philosophic materialism, the belief that everything is made of matter and energy, with no “immaterial” entities like souls, spirits, or supernatural gods – until proven otherwise.

Materialism tempered by humanism based on reason and compassion and the betterment of human life.

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