[monophoto]

I'm a big fan of mysteries, and many years ago I started in the 'A' section of the mystery shelves in our public library, and simply worked my way along the shelves. Before I retired, my job required that I travel quite a bit, so I also collected quite a few paperbacks that I bought to read on planes - I wasn't comfortable taking library book on trips out of concern that they might get lost.

The one Friday in March 2020, I visited the library to check out another batch of books, and the following day the library closed - for two months!

Our computer-geek son had purchased Kindle after he moved to Silicon Valley. I remembered that he had strongly recommended that approach, so when I completed the books I checked out on that fateful day, I went on-line and purchased a Kindle which I was able to set up to download books from our public library during the lockdown. The only time I've been back to the library since that day was when I had to physically appear to renew my library card. I recently upgraded from OverDrive to Libby - quite a different experience, but something I suspect I will eventually learn to like. [UPDATE: I very quickly concluded that Libby is a seriously flawed app, and went back to using a browser to access the OverDrive web site.]

I've bought a few e-books for my Kindle, but mainly books that I especially like and want to include in a permanent collection because I re-read them occasionally - classics like LeCarre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The retirement gift that my wife received from her fellow school librarians was a Nook. I set it up so that she could download books, but it never actually caught on - to this day, she insists on going to the library for a physical book. But she also doesn't know how to use her cell phone - some people are like that!