Thursday, April 3, 2008

Books, Books, Everywhere...

I’m going to keep this short because I’m absolutely exhausted – thanks to my latest reading adventure. I started My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult on Tuesday after class…and I’m almost done today. I’m a pretty fast reader, but this story has just sucked me in and isn’t letting go. Therefore, I stayed up reading until 1:30 a.m. last night, long after M went to sleep (the kitty too!). The sad/great thing is, I want to just drop everything and finish the dang book!

I’m kinda a bibliophile. I love love LOVE books – not just reading, but also owning them. Now, I am not opposed to libraries – like my best friend S – I even thought about becoming a librarian after college – but there is something about those titles lined up on a bookshelf. I had a really tall, five-self bookshelf growing up, and I think it slightly fueled my obsession. I would leave books lying around the house all the time…usually two at a time. When I got older and had even more books, it saddened me to have to move my
American Girl, The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley books to an attic box. In college, as an English Literature major, there were even more books lying around.

Borders and Barnes and Noble continue to be soothing spots for me (I love used books stores too; I’m really not being picky. There are just so many more BIG bookstores) I always knew books were pricey, but after I graduated from college it really hit home. $20 for a paperback? $35 for a hardback? That is NOT cool. Still, from time to time I’ll give in and go on a tiny spree, and occasionally I’ll get a gift certificate and go nuts. M and I have two
Target bookshelves in our place, filled with colorful titles that range from classic to trashy – and I love every one of them.

Anyway, this is kinda random – but comes back to personal finance, I promise! If you count up all the books that I own, it would be a LOT of money. Now, it’s not quite as bad as Carrie Bradshaw owning $40,000 in shoes…but my books aren’t $400 a pop! Anyway, it’s a vice that I am trying to get over – I’ve been frequenting the library much more often (when I’m not reading for class or for the book club I started – I know, I’m a huge dork)…and I think I’ve only bought one hardback book since I completed my
Harry Potter collection. So, I’m doing better. But I still have to hold myself in check when I aimlessly browse a Borders…

Well, this wasn’t that short…but I could talk about books forever! Happy Thursday!!

3 comments:

Britt said...

Oh god! I just read my sister's keeper too. Its fantastic! and I cried. Cause I'm a sap like that. She's a great author. I love books with a passion too and have a ginormous collection myself. Read the Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. It's fantastic also :)

Saving My Bacon said...

My favorite Sunday afternoon activity is to go to Borders with my best friend. We'd each grab 5 or so books, head to the cafe inside Borders, get a big pot of tea, and then spend the rest of the day perusing our finds :) .

I agree with you on how crazy expensive books are...especially after I moved back home to Canada from California (the same titles are are at least 20% more up here!). I've been trying to use the library more often, but it's really hard to resist buying popular books like Eat, Pray, Love. I'm like the 39th person in line for that book! haha.

singlebrokefemale said...

I am just as obsessive about books, there's nothing nicer than a trip to Borders/Waterstones and browsing for hours...then coming home with a whole bag of new paperbacks to indulge in! It's an expensive habit though, one I need to break!

Thanks for stopping by my blog, I love yours! Will add a link to my page and will be stopping by again!

p.s how good were the Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley series? they were my saviour through my teenage years..!