Then a neighbour, who brings round bags of books when she has finished with them, brought round a bagful that included Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 - a book I haven't got round to reading, until now that is.
And after just a few pages I couldn't help but think how relevant this book is to much of what we are living through at the present time.
It starts with a so called fireman burning books which have been outlawed. The fireman meets a young girl who says something along the lines of "many years ago I understand that firemen used to stop fires rather than start them." The fireman scoffed and called this nonsense.
But it got me thinking about one of my pet hates - how groups and individuals talk around a subject or their purpose in life and never get to the reason for their being.
In Bradbury's dystopian universe firemen start fires to destroy books rather than fighting fires. They have long lost their raison d'etre.
In another Bradbury book taxes are imposed on pedestrians simply for walking along pavements.
Now I don't for one minute feel that we've reached those levels but at times it really does feel as if Big Brother is running our lives, deciding what we do and how we do it. Now call me paranoid.
Come to think of it, there are a number of classic books that I've never read. Things like War and Peace as I could never face it and all those Russian names confuse me.
So whilst I thought of the books that I should have read but never have I decided to listen to David Bowie's Low which is an underrated album by the genius that is Bowie.
There's a lot of electronic instrumental stuff on it along with the excellent Sound and Vision which is now being used as a television advert for B and Q. The B and Q version is a later stripped down version of the original which has a very full feel about it.
I'm working my way through Bowie's mid and late career albums and ignoring the earlier stuff as I know it so well. I have also listened to Heathen a few times and find I really like an album that I have to date pretty much ignored.
On Sunday, I came home to watch the University Boat Race which I have adored since I was a boy and have no idea why in the same way as I have no idea why I like doing jigsaw puzzles. Jigsaws seem so pointless. You have a picture on the box of the finished product and spend days putting the pieces together, but it's so therapeutic.
Same with the Boat Race. I have always supported Oxford but have no idea why, other than the fact you have to support one of the two teams, although Cambridge would be our local university.
Having said that, on Sunday I was supporting Cambridge. Like jigsaws, the boat race is pretty pointless. There are only two crews involved so you either win or lose and it does seem strange that the race takes over the lives of both crews for over a year of training when it's all over in under 20 minutes. Having said that, there's some kind of magic in this sporting event. I guess its just that I grew up watching it and it seems to herald the onset of Spring. I'm sure it used to be on the same day as the Grand National, another of my favourite sporting events of the year.
Now the two events are separated by a couple of weeks. The boat race is a supreme mix of skill, power and stamina.
More than enough for today I hear you say.