My rate of reading goes way down when I’m in KY, mostly because I spend so much time doing things with the kids and grandkids. That’s generally a good thing, but taking downtime to read is good for me – when I stop reading, my anxiety level goes way up. Anxiety level up, mood and decision making processes go down, and I can quickly get into a Bad Place.

So this morning I’m taking the time to finish a very good book, Walkaway by Cory Doctorow. Walkaway is the ultimate us versus them, rich versus poor story, set in a near-future America where the technology exists to have a completely post-scarcity world, but the rich (zottas, in Doctorow’s story) won’t let that happen. What’s the use in being rich unless you can lord it over people with less? Doctorow creates a convincing world where walkaways and zottas fight it out across cyberspace, decimated lands, with advanced weaponry and friends/families split across lines like the original Civil War. It’s a big book with big ideas, and I’ll be sorry when it’s over. I’m almost there.