Boyfriend and I are suckers for books.
No, that's not a strong enough term.
Boyfriend and I are IDIOTS for books.
We can't go into any bookstore, anywhere, without dropping at least fifty bucks. (Well, okay, we could probably get out of a Christian bookstore without spending anything. But we wouldn't go into those in the first place.) It doesn't matter. Used books, new books, comic books, art books, foreign books, technical books; one or the other of us (and sometimes both) will come out with an armload of totally random crap.
It doesn't help that Boyfriend reads scary-ass expensive computer and math books for fun, or that I have a jones for pulp-mystery anthologies that's akin to crack dependency. Moreover, our fields of interest overlap to a HUGE extent, so even if one of us manages to successfully resist buying an interesting book, the other will buy it. Or we'll experience a simultaneous wearing-down of willpower:
'I want this book, but it's expensive.'
'Ooooh, I want that book too. But yeah, it is expensive.'
'But I really want it. And it's hard to find.'
'Yeah, it IS kind of hard to find... and I'm dying to read it...'
'Wah.'
'Wah. Oh, what the hell.' Expensive-but-cool book goes in basket.
The reason we buy a lot of books is... well, we READ a lot of books. Whenever we go out to dinner (fairly often, since we both hate doing dishes), we both bring books to read (waitstaff always thinks this is just adorable, for some reason). And we sit around the house and read in the evenings sometimes, and I read in front of the computer late at night, and Boyfriend reads for a couple of hours before going to bed... I finish about four or five novel-length books a week, and Boyfriend reads slightly fewer longer books.
Plus we read about five-ten comic books a week, and we have an ENORMOUS collection of graphics novels and trade paperbacks. When it comes to reading material, we have no willpower. I even subscribe to lots of weird catalogs... free reading material delivered to my door every day! We don't subscribe to magazines, though, for some reason. I've never really found a magazine that I liked enough to subscribe to. (Deletes rant about how truly stupid most women's magazines are.)
So we have eight, count 'em, EIGHT six-foot-tall bookshelves, all stuffed to overflowing with books, stacked three deep, piled on top of other books, or just crammed wherever there is room. The comic books are piled up in longboxes in the utility room, the catalogs are piled on the entertainment center in the main room (until they get too old and get thrown out), and little piles of books sprout on both bedside tables. And on the floor beside the bed, too, when the tables get crowded.
Every three months or so, we get fed up and tote huge bags full of books to the local Half-Price books, staving off the inevitable by a matter of days. And of course, we always come back with a bag full of NEW books to replace them. No willpower whatsoever.
Recently I gave in and started buying manga. We're doomed.
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Wow....I actually wish I were like that!! I really do!!! Why?? Because I like reading too, BUT, I take too long to read!!! Now reasons for that vary, and usually it has to do with motivation, which I usually lack. I sometimes rather spend time working on my own projects instead of reading, so that's where my times goes. I'd love to just go into a store and do just what you do, Moon, but I don't because I'd never finish reading all that I bought! lol I guess I read kind of slowly too, because I like to really absorb what I am reading. I have been suggested to that I read faster so that I can go back and read it later and then it' BETTER. My problem is, when would I get around to doing THAT??! lol Auy..
But that's just me...
And it's also a little ironic because, (and I know you'll like this, Moon) I work in a library!! lol You'd fit in just fine here! ^_' If you ever did come here to the Big O, you should see our MANY libraries!
I read trades the most myself, because they are quicker to read. I go to my local funnybook store each week and occasionally buy trades/GNs. I do "collect" a few series by doing it this way too (Blade of the Immortal, Lone wolf and Cub, Gunsmith Cats, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, for example). Also, they have art value! ^_'
Posted by Wolf @ 06/09/2001 09:01 PM EST
