I am so far behind on a certain category of my reading that I’m intimidated enough to mostly avoid opening up Instapaper altogether. But I keep saving things to “read later” all the same. Aspirational bookmarking at its best, I suppose. At least neither the Instapaper or Pinboard queue show up with red badges on any of my various screens.

It’s not that I’m not reading, though. I’m reading a ton, probably more this year than in quite a while. On the treadmill at the gym I’m slowly making my way through Passage of Power by Robert Caro, a genuinely fascinating — and challengingly lengthy — telling of LBJ’s journey to the presidency. It’s enthralling, and also 736 pages long, which, when rendered in Kindle format sufficiently large to read while bouncing along at the five to six miles an hour I can manage on the treadmill, results in something like 20,000 “locations” in Kindle-speak. I’ve borrowed it three times from the local library, which I suppose is a sign that a) I enjoy it and b) I don’t read it particularly quickly, and c) nobody else is borrowing it.

The treadmill or bike at the gym seems to be the primary place where I do most of my reading, these days, being as they are among the few places where a 35-inch-high pre-schooler isn’t eagerly seeking my attention. This beautiful summer season, I feel somewhat guilty for not being out on the trails, but time and attention are the resource now most in demand and shortage, so fresh and piney air often fall third in the priority list to a good workout and enjoying some reading.

I’m still getting out and about quite a bit, too. It’s a beautiful monsoon season here, so far.

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