November 06, 2006

Hello, I'm Tine, and I'm A Bookaholic

"What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversation?" - Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Caroll

I love to read. Give me anything - the back of cereal boxes, shampoo bottles (I actually read 'em when I'm taking a shower), magazines (although I do draw the line at National Geographic and stuff like that. Hey, those only look good in pictures and videos, NOT in pages and pages of JUST writing!), books, etc, and I'd be a happy lass, tucked away in bed, enjoying hours of healthy (or trashy, hehe!) literature. As such, I amassed a LOT of books.

I have children's books which I kept since I was 7. I have enough encyclopedias, reference books, textbooks, novels and magazines to start my own library. When I studied in the UK, I brought home about 5 boxes of stuff, 2 of which were solely BOOKS. I bought books at the bookstores, second-hand shops (I lived next door to one); I had books as gifts, etc.

I love the smell of new books. Actually, scratch that; I love the smell of books. Period. Everything I go shopping, I MUST go to a bookstore. More often than not, I come out with a new book. The smell of a new book just gives me a sense of euphoria that I just can't explain. Even if the book's old, an odd yet excited feeling envelopes me, and I have to have it. I love running my fingers over the backs of books at bookstores. That's just the way I am. As for magazines, who would not be attracted to the pretty, glossy pages and 60% ads?

I normally take a couple of days (well, maybe more, give or take a couple of days more or so) to finish a book, depending on how busy I am. These days, I'm too engrossed with the computer; sadly, my beloved books have taken second place.

As such, I now have a LOT of books which I have not even read. I keep buying more books when the older ones aren't even finished. I'm fast running out of shelf-space.


Books which I have yet to read (three of 'em do not belong to me though). I know there are a lot of diet books. Shut up.

The problem with me is that I simply cannot give my books away. Call it a trait I inherited from my late paternal grandfather. I come from a family of hoarders. No matter how yellow the pages become, how old and manky they smell, I just don't have the heart to give my precious posessions away. I'm saving my Enid Blyton books for my kids, and the trashier ones for when they're older (hey, it's a bloody legacy, okay?). Selling at Ebay's not an option. I ended up buying more.

Sigh. Too many books, too little time to read, to little space to store. What's a girl to do?

Next in my shopping list, The Devil Wears Prada.

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Uh oh.

7 comments:

Edmund Yeo said...

Better read as much as possible now before our government starts banning more.

Tine said...

Yeah, I saw the list of books which were banned. WTF?! Children's books? That's just utter rubbish.

beetrice said...

Well, it doesn't help that the books are getting bloody expensive too!! Burns a hole in my pocket every time I go to the stores...

Tine said...

I know! It used to be RM29.90 per book before, and I was already jumping by then at the price, and now, it's what, RM32.90 per book? Or worse ... the bigger, newer ones, even though paperback, cos almost RM60 PER book! Tsk tsk tsk.

bc said...

Hi-five girl....
Am going thru books so fast i think I will be broke soon...
On average I buy one per week n have to top up once I finish that book. I read on the bus, mrt, sometimes even walking...(I wonder when I will fall into a drain)

and i just got the Devil wears prada yesterday!!
it is now tuck into my handbag...

Oh... n bcoz of I need to bring a book everywhere, I am stuck with big handbags...
those tiny little ones are practically useless for daily use :)

Timodee said...

well, to be honest, i'm more a 'movie-holic'
well, anything that i could leech off the wonderful net...oops, better not reveal too much of my dark side here...:P
how about ebooks guys? (free...edonkey provides...hehe)
but i know it's a completely different feel to physically reading a book (i think you get high off the glue actually :P)

Tine said...

BC: Woah, be careful there, girl, walking and reading at the same time, not a good idea ;) I SHOULD have a book tucked into my bag, at least I'll finish them faster. Sigh. Yeah, books are killer expensive these days. The 'gah-men' only allows RM500 of tax rebate on books annually. Damnit.

Timodee: Ebooks? Now, this is one thing where I'm not nerdier than you! Kidding, kidding :P Nah, it's something about flipping the pages, smelling them as you read (okay, okay, enough about the smell already! Geez, what's wrong with me?!) ... there's an episode on CSI once, where Grissom was asked to check out some publications on the computer. He said "I prefer leaning back, and not leaning forward, to read". I totally agree ;)