My consumption of books has dropped dramatically over the years. Twenty years ago I’d read 100 books a year no problem, but in recent years sometimes I barely get through a book a month.

There are a number of reasons that added together have put that big dent in my consumption.

• The rise of social media, which eats up way too much of my time. Gotta put some limits there, eh?
• The end of the confining tyranny of network TV. Now with NetFlix, specialty cable channels, cable on demand, etc., it’s just too easy to find all sorts of interesting stuff to watch for hours in front of the tube, er, screen. And PVRs add to the media flow by storing a backlog of stuff I want to watch.
• An inability to say NO to volunteer commitments. I’m now down to being active on three boards, which is freeing up some personal time.

I noticed that following the injury to my ankle/foot recently, I read nearly a book a day over the last week. Hm. So it can be done!

It was also interesting to enjoy the interaction of reading. Active? I’m the kind of person who underlines, makes notes in margins. . .

With TV it’s more in one eye and out the other : – ).