Of all the impressive things in this post, you got me with this:
Moby Dick (required reading in grade school) - in grade school? What kind of school did you attend, college for kids? That one was over my head, even in college, and when the professor explained what was really going on, I wondered how I ever got the idea to major in English. (I did get better. But I still haven't learned to love James Joyce and other challenging authors.)

I read a book or two a week. Had a thousand book reviews purged by Amazon due to some alleged violation of Friends and Family policy. Authors must build a social media platform. Readers follow on Twitter, Facebook, etc, and the spy bots know if you've (gasp!) dared to exchange emails with an author. Busted. That makes us FRIENDS and it means I have no objectivity. I understand that an epidemic of Indie Authors exploited the 5-star review system to sell books, but I WAS NOT ONE OF THOSE.

No matter. To this day Amazon has not restored those purged reviews. And, stupidly, inexplicably, I continue to post book reviews there, now that my reviewing "privileges" have been restored. Call me an unprincipled idiot.
I read in the car, in the doctor's office, even in long lines at the checkout... Kindle everywhere....
Looks like you're still a fan of paper copies. I had to quit. 3,000 or more books in this house....

Thanks for the inspiration to others to READ MORE. :)