On Gambling

I don’t gamble. 

But sometimes getting books from hold on Libby feels like I have won the lottery.

I’ve been reading books on an e-reader for over a decade. Our first moves when we paid by weight for the transport of our lives from one place to another was all it took for Marc and I to consider alternative ways to collect books. 

Since COVID in 2020, I have become more adept at using the library’s ebook collection. And when we switched from e-readers sponsored by A*^#&n to Kobo e-readers, last year, I was delighted to find my access to the library built in to my e-reader. 

I hold memberships to two libraries. The Greenville County Library system is a beautiful collection (intentional pun) of spaces and books across many of our communities. We also happen to be deep in the land of book bans which infiltrate not just the schools, but also our public libraries. 

I was delighted to find that Broward County Library (in FL) offers a paid library membership. And even though they also are in the deep weeds of censorship, they have taken a bolder approach to their collection. And so most often I find the books I want to borrow from my Florida library. Not because I’m looking for banned books (entirely), but because they have a better collection all across the board.

Using Libby — (hi Mom, it’s the app that gives us access to library digital collection) — I can peruse book lists for days. I haven’t found a limit on reserves, and since I’ve set a goal to read one book at a time this year, borrowing one at a time is no hardship.

So every once in a while, there is a notice in my app (and in my email) saying a forgotten request has become available. The jackpot. 

My most recent Jackpot book is “Heart of a Stranger” by Angela Buchdahl. And it’s gonna be a good one. So good, I’m only going to link the Bookshop page where you can read about it for yourself. I’ve already told Marc that maybe we should take bets on how long it will be until I purchase a copy for myself. 

Except, as I said, I don’t gamble.