I always totally enjoyed collecting books that I knew I’d read eventually. Then I started running out of space for them all. And eventually had no choice but to donate the ones I’d already read to others who’d appreciate them as much as I did.

That was hard, because to a book lover like myself, those books became cherished friends, and it was like giving away a part of myself. For that same reason I don’t like loaning a book to someone because I’m afraid I’ll never get back, and when I do, it certainly won’t be in same condition as when I loaned it.

But in order to accommodate my reading obsession, I had no choice if I wanted to continue my favorite hobby of reading a good book. As often as I could.

Why reading, you may ask? Why books? Why spend so much spare time reading books when there are other things to do? 

It’s actually quite simple.

Books can take you to places you’ve always dreamed of going without ever having to leave your chair. Or in my case, quite often my pool float.

Books introduce you to all kinds of new people who end up becoming old friends. When you come to the end of that book you continue to wonder what else those people are up to now. (That’s the great thing about reading a series. The stories continue on in several more books with the same characters continuing to live their lives and pursue new adventures. And you always keep hoping the author will decide to write just one more about your now old friends.)

Books teach you to be happy by yourself, because they make you feel

like you’re never alone. You’re with interesting people who take you to interesting places and introduce you to new ideas.

Reading a really good book makes you want to climb inside and live with the characters wherever they’re living. Help them do what they’re doing, and even sit down and have a cup of tea or a glass of wine with them as you both share your life stories.

To an avid reader, the movie made from a book is almost never as good as the book itself, because so many parts are left out of the movie for the sake of time, and the characters are not as developed in the movie as they are in the book. Many of the nuances in books just can’t translate onto the screen.

And why do avid readers find it difficult to pick out their favorite book? Because we find little pieces of ourselves scattered throughout so many of the stories we read. Combine the stories and you figure out the person. One person isn’t just one story. It’s all of them.

Thousands of people read the same book but in each person’s mind the chapters look different and the setting changes. We may all be reading the same book but it’s unique to each one of us. I picture the characters most likely in an entirely different way than another reader. But we both enjoy the same book.

My husband is the exact opposite. He likes to read, but only newspapers and magazines and online news sites. He finds reading a book boring, and just wants to see the movie. We’ve been together over 40 years and I still don’t get it. But I’m still trying to get him to understand.

And while I still love the feel of a real book in my hands, in order to be able to accommodate my reading habit and not having a gigantic library in which to house all my books (although I’m still hoping to win the lottery so I can actually have such an amazing space), the next best thing to me is my Kindle. I debated long and hard before taking the plunge, but within an hour, I was hooked!

I now have over 1,000 books in my Kindle library, many already read, but a lot of samples, so I can read a bit of the book before I buy it. And those samples are there because I don’t want to forget about them because they all really look interesting! How many samples out of all the ones I have have I actually discarded? Maybe four or five. And yes, when I make that decision, I do feel a bit guilty!

Do I have a reading obsession? Absolutely. Is it a bad thing? Not at all! It’s not like I’m spending money on designer shoes and purses, or expensive jewelry. I’m expanding my mind and actually saving money! Kindle books are less expensive.

Right?

And now, I have about 30 more minutes to read in the book I’m reading now, so it’s time to get back to it. I have more adventures waiting.