There are ten books on my bedside table. I don’t usually count the books in my “getting to it” pile, so that was a bit of a surprise. There are a further sixteen in the library downstairs, but I suspect those will die with spines uncracked. Then there are the e-books. I have five waiting on my Kindle, with a further three on the library app.
Knowing I have books waiting gets to be a bit much at times: they feel like a weight, not a pleasure. I don’t enjoy the thoughts that arise when I stir the “I’m overwhelmed” pot. Surplus anything agitates me. Not enough to stop me from buying books, however. Books giveth, they’re my first love, and they’ll probably be my last. I consider the money spent on book acquisition money well spent, even as I cull hundreds for sale and donation. “What’s the point?” my parents regularly ask. They don’t get it or me, and I’ve tried. The point is love: I love books, and having them around me fills the holes in my soul. They’re a safe escape, a place to go when my life and feelings seem like too much.
Books can, however, also take away. After all, a life lived in books is a life not lived here.
Perhaps I could consider a shopping moratorium until I’m caught up?
I think my soul’s rejection-scream was heard in Madagascar. My inside voice thinks we’re a lunatic even to consider it, but inside voices have a narrow vision. They, too, will become one with the Borg. Inside voices aren’t concerned about operating from a factual foundation. They’re id. And my id wants books. Even when I’m short of funds, money, and space, tsundoku (“doku” for reading and “tsun” for letting piles grow) is how I roll.
It’s not all roses and kittens: things aren’t good for us because we love them, and with books, I overconsume. The unread tomes sit, gathering dust, pleading for my attention and nudging at my guilt. At least I add the new books to the bottom of the pile: product rotation is vital if you want to prevent premature expiry.
I finished the most recent Nora Roberts novel a few days back. That it took more than one sitting is somewhat dire: I usually munch through those things without pause. I’m still her number one, non-hobbling fan, but this was not her best work. Again. It’s a problem I’m having with my favourites. They’ve been tremendously captivating and prolific, but the quality has started to wane. I hate finding a new author: non-fiction it is, if only because I have fewer pending reads in that category. I think I’ll pick Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie’s “Slow Death by Rubber Duck: how the toxic chemistry of everyday life affects our health.” I’m interested in the toxicity. Besides, I haven’t had a raging case of hypochondria in some time now: I’m due.
From Famine to Feast. 
I’ve always been more of a library person. I’m generally too cheap to pay for books if there’s the option to access them for free.
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The library ebook has been a game changer for me, for sure.
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You have a good library book selection, going by the pictures.
I like to read books. But not too many or regular. I thought I was getting regular reading at one point, but felt a burden to push.
Where your love is books, mine are dvd’s. I do have a collection now, that I will rewatch. Mostly bought second hand.
Odd ones I don’t watch again, go to charirty. Dvd’s are my escape, like you are with your books.
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That’s the great thing about books and DVDs: in addition to the escape, there are ones to be found at thrifts stores and garage sales. And we all need an escape every now and then.
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i have 4 -5 book in my room. and idk how many in the basement and i still keep looking at online bookstores to buy more. it’s defnitely not hoarding when it comes to books
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Perfect 🙂 I didn’t think so, but I wanted to check 😉
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That’s why I don’t really do e-books. I remember when I got an e-reader some years ago and had a ‘free-trial’ thing that allowed me to download books for free. I downloaded too many and then never got around to them. They expired before I could do anything. When I have a physical book, it’s easier to feel guilty about not picking it up.
Oh, that book sounds like bad news. I’d stay away!
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I know. I’m a bit suggestible, so I do have concerns 😉
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I expect some blog posts to come out of that book. I hope it helps you and doesn’t make things a lot worse.
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My husband and books
… he has ones he is reading, and then ones he had read, and then ones he has had for a whole that he would like to read but hasn’t got round to yet, and there are odd books here and there he also gets excited about or picks up. … its just goes on and on… 🤦🏼♀️
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It’s a real problem 😆
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I with you: I like having bookshelves filled with books, real books, touchable, hefty, with pages I can turn, and smell… Yes, sadly, I now mostly read eBooks now, but every time I see the bookshelves of books, it makes it feel like home. So I take comfort in quotes like Cicero’s “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” 🙂
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I was just wracking my brain for my favourite quote, and now I have another entry. I love it, and oddly, was out in the garden today. Thanks for reading 😊
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Thank you 💖
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I love your library, and Big Magic is on my TBR. I have it as a pdf
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Thank you 💖 It’s a good book with great advice I mostly fail to follow 😅
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