I know I indicated that I may not post anything this week but seemingly I cannot help myself.

Anybody who knows me well, knows that I love books and reading. According to my mom this was since I was about 2 years old. I could not imagine an enjoyable career that did not involve books, especially fiction. I used to believe that career choices are defined by the areas you excel in. That made it difficult for me to choose from several areas I found doable. But what really defines the ideal career choice is doing something you love. So here I am 25 years later in the Literature field.

I know I’m not the only one into this stuff. These days people are fairly hesitant to read for leisure. I am biased in saying it but you do not know what you are missing! So this one is dedicated to all the bibliophiles out there. Hope you find identifiability here and I hope that everyone else finds interest 🙂

If you’re a bibliophile, you can probably say that:

1. If given the option of spending your last 20 bucks on needs, you would go naked and hungry before leaving a desired book on a store’s shelf.

2. 100 dollars seems like a lot of money to spend until it’s spent on books. This is particularly the case if you discover a writer you like. Then you will binge read everything and potentially won’t stop until you have purchased the entire series.

3. You can’t be left alone in the book section of anywhere. You will waste 2 hours mulling over back cover summaries until you can come away with something.

4. A shelf full of unread books does not deter you from obtaining more new books. Sometimes you settle for borrowing books from libraries and others but nothing satisfies you like getting your own. Collect them all champ.

5. You get mad when people mistreat books. If they destroy the spine, incur cat ears and the like. While weathered books have character to you maltreated books incite outrage. Recently while reading to my son he ripped part of his cardboard book. I had a very stern talking to him because he has to learn early that books should be respected.

6. You get mad when people tell you, you have enough books already. You don’t need this kind of negativity in your life.

7. You get mad when people try to police how many books you can keep or if they try to determine what’s useless or if they arrange them poorly on a shelf. These create distress to the highest level.

8. In spite of an e-reader’s convenience you love the crisp pages and glossy cover feel of a tangible book. Oh and the store bought scent. You know how to appreciate the crackle of a newspaper or the sheen of a magazine in the salon.

9. You have a reading list as long as a new toilet paper roll and it’s still growing. This is me. I choose to ignore it as I add a couple more titles to the list.

10. When you’re sad few things cheer you up more than a new good book. It’s an opportunity to bury yourself in a new universe, discover a new way of thinking, enhance your vocabulary, be someone else and travel far away. Books are therapeutic.

-CiCi