Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Off the wagon ...


Sweetie bought me an e-reader for Christmas.

Last weekend, I finally cleared the last surface remaining in my study room upon which no books reside, to make room for a stack of books that has lived in a corner of the floor for years.

So I have no excuse, no rationale, no reason, no justification for what I did today.

Why did I make a left out of the parking lot on my lunch hour, southward towards the local college, instead of right?

Oh pathetic addict that I am, who shall deliver me out of this body of bibliomania?

Perhaps I convinced myself that I would find no books worth buying. Or that I could just look and carry none away. The devil sat upon my shoulder and flipped pages in my ear.

The evidence of my shameful deed is in a paper bag in my car, eight more books to cram into the confines of my home. Sweetie will not be pleased.

But they looked so good! I nabbed books of poetry, books about places and old books long out of print and not likely ever to land in an e-reader. I couldn't help myself.

The library enables, that wicked place. Four dollars is a steal for a whole shelf of great literature. Yes, a whole shelf that I surely will never have time to read until I am dead. But you see, that's my plan. Whilst other departed souls are tapping on tables and making cold spots in old houses, I shall finally have time to sit down and read all the books I hoarded in my life, reveling in my spectral opportunity to peruse pages instead of running errands and making a living.

3 comments:

molly said...

And I have the perfect house for you to do all that "after you quit this mortal coil" reading. You can clear away some cobwebs and make your very own cozy cold spot!

Chase March said...

You crazy bookaholic. You really need to seek help before you bring misery to your family and friends, before you cannot move in your house for the tossed-aside books already drained of their stories.

I'm just kidding. Reading is great and there is something magical about the paper bound book. E-readers will never be able to compete with that.

Enjoy your personal library!

Eastcoastdweller said...

Molly, so excited. May take you up on the offer, in four or five decades or so. Unless I feel mysteriously drawn to park my ectoplasm at the Amargosa Hotel in Death Valley.

Chase, how, how could you (sob) be so mean? Just one little (sob) book, maybe two -- is that too (weep) much (sniffle) to ask?