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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Book Addiction

I have always considered myself a reader.  I remember being in fifth grade and reading for hours on my bed with my legs propped up on my headboard and my hands falling asleep from being held aloft since I always laid down to read.  Reading was simple as a kid.  All the books were short enough to finish in a few days and once I finished one, I started another.  Plowing through books satisfied me.  I loved to finish one and then go to the book store, or order off the school book order, for another piece of literature.  My happy, little, book-reading existance continued throughout high school (although at UHS, time for leisure reading was rare.)

Then,  I met my husband.

Josh is a self-proclaimed "bibliophibian."  He shares my love of books, but has a different view on acquiring them.  At bookstores, I comb through stacks of books, looking for that perfect one that will be the surprise find and keep me enthralled and entertained.  The book I won't ever want to put down.  Josh's philosophy is different: if it looks interesting, get it.

That's how this happened:
Here is non-fiction.
And this is fiction.
The "if it looks interesting, buy it" technique has seriously overwhelmed me as a reader.  I now start a book, find another book that looks interesting and start reading that, before I even finished the first one!  Case in point, my nightstand:


And, I am being completely serious.  I am in the middle of all those books right now.   I feel like I may be the poster child for ADD.  I read 10-20 minutes from 3-4 books a night.  Is this normal?  I have a feeling that it isn't. 

Book addiction?  Maybe.  Too neurotic for my own good?  Oh yes, I have many people who can attest to that one.

6 comments:

  1. :) My nightstand looks very much like yours, Jo! I am currently reading four or five books--all about running marathons and ultramarathons.

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  2. Ooh, now I just remembered that I want to read "Born to Run." One more book for the pile :-)

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  3. I love love love this post. I think you are hilarious and I love your books. They should take over the room, and the nightstand, and our lives.

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  4. No worries. I'm reading a few different books right now too. It just gets boring reading one book! Gotta change it up from time to time.
    And I'm definitely not going to beat you!

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  5. In case anybody is wondering where "bibliophibian" came from, here it is:
    http://wondermark.com/442/

    My library software puts the current tally at 602 books. That doesn't count Cam's books or the books in Jo's classroom. I did a rough tally not too long ago, and I think I've made it through a good 80% of them. Of the remainder a number of them I'd classify as "Jo's books", so I probably won't ever read them. For how many we buy, we seem to keep up with them pretty well. I'm reading 2 books on the Kindle and 2 paper books right now. Books are wonderful :)

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  6. hmmm, sounds like Josh and I have a lot in common. I also live by the "if it looks interesting get it"...I have a database for my books because I sometimes forget what I have!

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