anythings.org

When I moved last August, the boyfriend told me that I had too many books. I had to buy the biggest bookshelf at IKEA in order to accommodate them all, and I’ve already run out of room. I can’t fit another bookshelf in my room, but I keep trying to cram more books onto the shelf and into my room. But despite the fact that my bookshelf is overflowing and my room is stock full of yarn and books to the point that I can barely move without stepping on one of the three cats I live with, I keep buying books.

Now, I don’t buy all of my books brand new. I buy most of them used from independent sellers at various online marketplaces or Powells. I do purchase the occasional book new if I know it will be essential to my future graduate school studies, or if I just really really want it. And I have a membership at Audible, so I do download some of my books and listen to them rather than actually purchasing them. But this doesn’t seem to be easing the burden on my bookshelf.

The problem isn’t the money I’m spending. The problem is the space I have officially run out of. Another, slightly larger, problem might be the fact that the boyfriend, father, and brother may refuse to help me move this coming August if I have acquired too many books. All they did last time was complain about how many boxes full of books I had. In my defense, I did put as many books as possible in each box… therefore making it too heavy for me to carry, and forcing the responsibility onto those with much more upper body strength. This was not some coy plan to make everyone but me do the heavy lifting, it was a genuine concern that I may run out of boxes.

But the big, glaring, obvious thing is: I have a problem, I am addicted to books. I pick them up, start them, and finish them months later. I think right now I’m reading 5 books and listening to 1. I used to be the kind of girl who would salivate thinking about finishing my latest book. It’s not that I’m uninterested in my current reading selections, everything I’m reading is fabulous. I’m just so distracted by my knitting that it makes it difficult to find time to read.

And seeing as how I just got 24 balls of yarn yesterday, I find it highly unlikely I’ll be quitting knitting any time soon…