Confessions of a Book Addict

I have an addiction.

It has to do with books.

I love books. I think they are a wonderful creation. A great way to share stories and experience things one might otherwise not experience. But I have a problem. I want to read too many books, all at once. So, for instance, I have about 15 right now in a stack in my room, waiting. A waiting list of 15. And that's just the ones that I have bought. Don't even get me started with the ones on my indigo wish list and the ones that enter my sights in between. I also read around 4 at once. I don’t think this is healthy.

I walk into book stores and the mixture of smells intrigues me (I know, this is sounding creepy). The new binding book smell, with all of the crisp pages and fresh ink and then the faint smell of espresso. It's a beautiful thing. I think, if they would let me, I could live quite contently in a large books store sleeping in the arm chairs and living off scones and biscotti.

Used bookstores are like a treasure hunt. You find the creased and aging yellowness of the musty books and buy them for fractions of the original price. There is something to be said about both new and used books.

In my addiction I end up with various styles and genres of books. Some of which I am pretty sure they will take me longer to read. Sometimes years. Mainly because they are not fiction. But I read these books anyway and discover new things. Yet, every once in a while I find a book that I know is great.

And here is how I know.

When I find a book that grabs me and drags me into the depths of its line and verse I know. I know because I carry it around much similar to a 3 year old and her favourite doll. It travels in my purse, to various rooms in the house, it sits on my lap while I watch TV and then I attempt to read it during commercials. This is the sign of a great book.

I realized this reaction today as I noticed that since reading the prologue to Mark Steele's "Flash Bang" on Saturday night it has accompanied me to church, to the kitchen, to the TV room and to my room variously throughout the past day. It's a good book, an easy read, and I'm going to learn something. I know it.

So, this is my random confession of my book addict self and a brief referral to what believe is going to be a thoroughly enjoyed, laugh-out-loud, I-may-learn-something sort of book. A gem, you could say.