This is my bookcase:

Sorry, this is ONE of my bookcases. What is cut off is the pile of books that live below this set of built in shelves and the other pile blatantly collecting on the floor, not to mention the entire other bookshelf in the living room.

Hello, my name is Amy and I am a book-o-holic. Not reading-o-holic. I aspire to that.

Such a guilty pleasure that it always feels as if I should be doing something else, even if that something else is not as important. I will waste an amazing amount of time watching tv when I could be reading. Ok, it’s yet another golden age of television, but still there are a millennia of amazing books to be read. Get to it, girl!

How did I get here? The story is this: I love books, I love reading, I love bookstores because they are full of books and other people who want to be near the books. Any time I have a bad day, it’s off to the bookstore because it makes me happy. Add in the used book store binge fests, warehouse sales, purchasing of the latest and greatest book because the wait is too long at the library, gifts and you get bookcase bonkers. One solution is to move to a larger place where an entire room could be turned into a library (my heart sings just thinking about it). The reality is I must face my problems and either read these books or read these books. I would say read them or set them free, but come on now. I need to read them.

What gets in the way aside from ridiculous tv, work and other aspects of life? The library for one. I may stop by and come home with one or several books that have due dates. DUE DATES. One must read those first and by definition defer the books in the house. For two (why doesn’t anyone say that?): ebooks. When the physical books began to outgrow the physical space, I turned to ebooks. No one can really see how many books live there. Nor do they know that with Bookbub and other services, they can be purchased for so cheap sometimes.. so cheap. No barrier whatsoever to purchase. No clutter to ruin your feng shui. Just mental clutter because I know they are there and I know I haven’t read them. The pressure!

About a year ago, I decided to take charge of the situation. I went around the house and typed the name of every book I have not read into a spreadsheet. I added to it all the books from my Amazon wishlist. Now I have a real TBR: To Be Read list. I put all the books into priority 1, 2, or 3. I categorized them by fiction, non-fiction, self, and for work. I gave myself a system. One book of each category at a time. Keep track of the priorities. If I decide to read the latest buzz book, I have to change the priority of another book. I force myself to acknowledge that trade off.

I HATE all of this. How disturbing is it to find a book you really want to read listed at #17 and for the life of you you can’t put it in front of 1 – 16 either. I hate it. The only solution is to read more. MORE. How can I find time to read more? Where will it come from? What could my strategies be? How does deciding to write more on this blog help with that cause?
Because it holds me accountable. I’m putting it out there. I have a book addiction and I need help with my chosen strategy which is to read more of the books.

I know I need to face facts. I am never going to read all the books. It’s not possible to read all the books. But I need to read all the books before I die. I must, I simply must. And perhaps that is part of the problem. If I put off reading the books, maybe I’ll just never die. But I know that isn’t true and meanwhile I’m missing out on all the books I could be reading. Start the sanity!

None of this explains why I’m writing this blog. I’m writing it because I need to express myself about my addiction and I’ve found no support groups. I know there must be others and I can’t hold it in anymore. I need to let my book freak flag fly. Don’t tell me I should purge, don’t tell me about the “life changing magic of tidying up”** and that I should purge some of these books. I can always buy them again. The library will provide them for me. I don’t care. I love them. They bring me joy, Marie Kondo, they bring me joy. Ok, that they are all over the place and I haven’t read them makes me really crazy. The only solution is to find more time to read, yes? Support group of the internet, tell me yes, give me suggestions! Do I need to win the lottery so I have more time to read? Do I?

** Note: I am messy and a collector of an amazing amount of crap. I believe Marie Kondo is on to something. I feel SO much better with less clutter. I have no idea why I cling to things that I might use someday. I agree, I agree, I agree! Just not about my books. I will read them one day, then pass them on, that or die when a pile of them falls on me (similar to Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow, a book I am surprised to tell you I do not own).