Monday 21 June 2010

Weekly Geeks 2010-22: Wherein I Admit to an Addiction

WG Relaxing_thumb[3] Every week the Weekly Geek asks a bookish question. This week they want us to confess to our addictions, our bookish addictions, and I, I have a confession to make.

Books tend to follow me home. There seems to be little I can do about it. They just do!

Book suitcase weekly geeks 21 6 2010 Image Credit

I go into every single book store I see. The other weekend my family and I were travelling. We stopped in a small town for a fika :D. As we were walking down the street we walked past a bookstore. I ducked in. My parents were left laughing. I didn’t buy any books on that particular trip, although I drooled over Jamie Does, the latest cookbook from Jamie Oliver. I really wanted it but as we were travelling it didn’t seem sensible (I am occasionally sensible when it comes to books).

No my real addiction is to Bookdepository.co.uk. I buy far far to many books from them. A few weeks ago (and boy do I wish I had take a picture of this) the mail man left all the books that arrived in a plastic bag on top of the mailbox. It made me laugh. I got 5 books that day. Anymore I rarely have a week when I don’t put in an order or receive a previously made order. It is just so durn handy.

Now a book buying addiction might not be so bad if I could also get rid of books. Unfortunately I seem to be completely incapable of getting rid of books. I was better at it when I was an undergrad. I got rid of several books when I moved. Now instead I store my books around the world. You see all my books don’t currently live with me. I have a couple of totes of mainly books living in my cousins garage in England. I do not live in England or the British Isles any more. I have yet to retrieve my books, partly because I know it will turn out that we now have three copies of Purity in Death. Yeah I have issues.

pile of books weekly geeks 21 06 2010 Image Credit

But, as much as my parents laughed at my the other week, they came into the store with me willingly. You see, my addiction, is hereditary. My parents are just as bad. We have over 10,000 (okay that might have been an exaggeration but over 5000 at least when I started counting…I’m tired today, long day) books in our house. When I was little my dad gave blood, he would get paid a small sum (about $7 ) but it was enough to buy a book (or two) and that is what he used the money for. Sometimes a book for him, sometimes a book for me. We still have all those books. Plus the books my grandmother used to send me across the Atlantic every few months. She belonged to a book club on my behalf and every few months I would get the packages from them. I still have all of those books.

I can probably count the books I have gotten rid of over the years on not using more than my fingers. The books I have gotten rid of have exclusively gone to friends or to charity shops, in the hope that they will find a good home as I could not give them one. They still hurt. Every single one of them. I hated it.

So my confession today is: I am a hoarder of books. I really am.

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Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

8 comments:

Jade @ Tasting Grace said...

::sigh:: me too. Moving to Thailand and choosing what to bring with me is going to cause a conundrum.

Carin said...

That is A LOT of books. I have started to just give my books away. There are too many to keep in my house (although it is more in the range of maybe 100). I just think about the books I will consider reading again, and some of them I know I wouldn't so I just give them away. Better to be read than sit and collect dust!

Kristen M. said...

10,000 books in the house is definitely hoarding! Many bloggers like to say that they hoard books but you aren't kidding. ;) We have about 1000 or so and nowhere to put them all so I'm afraid to see your home! I only have three bookshelves right now and it drives me crazy to have stacks of books all over. Maybe that should be one of my summer goals -- more bookshelves!

Zee said...

Jade~~moving half way across the world is such a hard thing to do, and part of that hard thing is the books. I feel for you!

Carin~~I have this irrational fear that as soon as I give away any books I will want to read them again. This is why I have several copies of favourite books, I've been in a different country when I wanted to re-read a particular favourite, so off to the bookstore I've gone. I will say though that some of those duplicates are from used bookstores (I was able to get the entire Belgariade and Mallorean from a used bookstore in the UK). I am just a hoarder :D

Zee said...

I should also admit that a lot of those books are also children's books :) but we have books in cupboards, on shelves in staircases and in bags (due to a current renovation of the library) and we have a BIG house. Also 10,000 might be a bit high, we have gotten rid of some books lately.:)

Anonymous said...

I used not to be able to shift books. But then we moved houses and everything had to go into storage for a few months. There were just too many boxes of books. I threw a selection out (but still miss some of those books).

I also try (TRY) to throw out books I won't read again. But why should you if your house is big enough? :-)

Fiona said...

5000? I think I have quite a way to go before I have that size of a problem!

I have occasionally regretted getting rid of books so now I will be re-buying books that I have given a way in one of my rare fits of de-cluttering. The Wind up Bird Chronicle I am going to re-buy as hardback though which is a good thing.

But I still try to get rid of of my books as I read because I don't have room for 5000. I'd be living in the shed!

Maree said...

I, too, am a hoarder of books. And I refuse to count them ;)