Been a good time of late as in over the last week, several deliveries have arrived from foreign parts:

• a kindle cover – which is pretty much exactly what I wanted and hits the spot. However, I may need to contact the company as some of the glue seems to have come unstuck in one corner. No big drama I hope. update: turns out this is a design feature and is actually a pocket to hold the base of a portable light produced by the same company. Phew.
• a book – Darnton’s “A Case for Books” arrived today and I’m looking forward to getting into it.
• another book – “The Death of Capt America Omnibus” arrived a couple of days ago.

I’m midway through both the last Pratchett, Unseen Academicals, and the latest True Blood, Dead in the Family – the former in hardcover p and the latter in e. However I dropped both, so to speak – I suspect the kindle won’t handle being dropped as well as a printed book would. The last two nights have been spent reading Captain America and the Death thereof. A very good read, wonderfully drawn, and well told. As I’ve said elsewhere, Cap is probably my favourite “superhero”. There’s a depth to him, a desire beyond the fighting, a sense of the greater picture and of humanity…I’ve always been somewhat cynical of american culture yet I’ve always been drawn to Captain America – there’s a sense of something more…an integrity I rarely see in the comics. It’s not just about the biffo.

It must also be said that I like to read glossy, colourful, graphic novels. I am less fond of basic black and white, matte finishes and such…that suggests a preference for style over substance, yet I want stories of substance, stories that will suck me in. I love too, my set of Absolute editions of Gaiman’s The Sandman, both for the fantastic look and feel, their tactile presence…nevermind how good they look on the shelf, but also very much for the story contained within. Buying them via overseas sources meant that they cost less than half what it would cost locally.

As my new mortgage takes hold, my budget for such fancy tomes has been reduced…but that’s ok, as I was getting a wee bit silly in my purchasing. I have bought some very fine things over the last few years, and they are items that will continue to provide me with much pleasure. I haven’t stopped buying but I have at least eased on the voracious “I must have that sooper-extra special-limited-leather-blah-blah-blah” purchasing that was starting to overtake my common sense. I now maintain a wishlist of nice items and the hunger for accumulation has subsided somewhat – as I bought more, I wanted more. I’m buying less now and the urgency has dissipated a little.