How Book Lovers Spend Their Time . . . And . . . We Don't Have a Problem!

 

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Ever find yourself thinking, "Jeez, I would rather be reading!"? Of course you have, you're a card holding bibliophile! And, we love you here!

Whether we're out at the supermarket, in a meeting at work, spending time with the in-laws, we're just all too aware of the fact that this is eating into time that could be spent immersed in that book. That TBR pile is not getting any smaller, after all.

In fact, trying to get to the bottom of that particular pile is like Sisyphus trying to roll his boulder up that hill. I don't know about you, but I am forever spending money I don't really have on books I need (and, I do need them. I really do. But, I swear, once I have this last book, that'll be it for the month. I won't buy anoth . . . ooh, what's that book!).

But hey, you know what, the depressing state of my finances aside, there's no such thing as too many books, am I right? If I need to make space, I can always rearrange some stuff. I mean, do I really even need a bed? I'm sure I can make a corner pretty comfortable, just curl up there . . .

Here's a question, why do people think it's okay to come and disturb you when you're reading? Ever had that? Like, you're sitting there, caught up in the flow of the book in your hands and loving it, and someone interrupts you, assuming that you're reading only because you've nothing better to do. What is that all about!?

Maybe I just need to go and arrange my bookshelves to calm myself down. Speaking of which, how do you arrange yours? Colours? Alphabetically? Chronologically? By publisher? Personal significance? Size? Stacked?

Personally, I have gone for a mix of alphabetically, stacked, and personal significance. In other words, it's a bit of a mess; and, that's why you won't find any pretty bookshelf pictures in my Instagram feed.

I am not all that interested in how aesthetically pleasing my bookshelves are, to be honest. I even have some book series on my shelves with mismatching cover designs, mismatching editions. I know there are some for whom that's going to be a painful mental image. I can only apologise and hope that you will forgive me. If you cannot, I will completely understand and can only thank you for joining me on this crazy journey this far.

Some of the shelves hold books which, for me, have personal significance, and those books stand neatly for the most part, and they are alphabetised according to the authors surname. And, each authors work is ordered chronologically according to the date of publication. But then, I have other shelves upon which you will find books that I like very much, but which have less personal significance to me. These shelves are more disordered, the books here more likely to be stacked. Sometimes, books move from one set of shelves to another.

It's a hard system to explain, but it makes sense to me. And, uh, please don't touch my books without asking. Is that just me? Tell me I am not weird. I feel really uneasy about people being around my bookshelves.

Hm. Maybe I do have a problem . . .

No. It's others who are wrong!

I mean, those aren't just books. There are characters inside those books that I have walked beside, fought with, felt the love they have felt. And, when it all comes to an end, I have mourned the loss of them. Because, oh my god, what relief/sadness/emotional mess is left in the wake of reaching that final page.

Having said that, at least now the book is done, I don't have to delay going to the toilet, or eating, or sleeping. Don't have hold all that stuff in as I feverishly make my way through each chapter. 

Phew!

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Thank you for reading. Stay safe. Stay well. And, keep reading lots of good books.