I'm Sick

I'm sick.

That's the conclusion of my office friend when it comes to my addiction with books. Well, she's not really referring to my love of books, what she's actually referring to is my attitude when it comes to buying books. You see, as of my last count I have around 40 books that are left unread on my shelf. Some of them have been living there for quite a few months, some for just a couple of days, and there are some that i'm sure have been there for more than a year. Each time that i'll tell her, and excitedly at that, "Hey, I bought a new book!", she'd raise her eyebrow at me and say "There you go again. JJ, go to a doctor, you're really sick." Then i'd start defending why I bought that book. And they're almost always the same reasons. I love the author, or the story's really good, or it's part of the series that i'm collecting, etc., etc. And afterwards, i'd feel guilty. Not because I bought the book, but because i've still got a lot of books that I've neglected for a long time already and I feel that i've not given them the attention that they deserve. Weird? Oo, weird, pero ganon talaga ko eh.

Last night, I was standing on my bed and looking for a book that I can read and I was just staring at my shelf for about 30 minutes and can't find anything to read. Over 200 books (bragging, Jen?) with over 40 of them unread and I didn't find anything to read! Talaga naman! (Another weird thing coming). None of the books spoke to me kasi, none of them "called" and asked me to read them. Most of the times kasi, I based what I read on my mood or on what I feel. Take the case of Harry Potter, when I first borrowed it from a friend, it sat on my shelf for about a month then I returned it unread. Then nun naman nasumpungan ko sya basahin, I read all the six books in about three weeks, as in sunod-sunod! Minsan naman kahit gustong-gusto ko yun book, if my heart's not in it no matter how hard I try, I really can't appreciate it, pero favorite ko ha! And I have this habit of re-reading what I read before na kasi, I have books that i've read for about ten times already pero paulit-ulit ko pa din binabasa. Another reason why I can't read yun mga di ko pa nababasa.

Okay, I really have to promise, and I really have to promise not to break this promise, that I won't buy any book yet until i've finished even just half of my unread books. As in I really have to stand by this. So no Powerbooks, National Bookstore, Booksale, Bibliarch, Books For Less, and eBay for me for a while. Well, maybe until the two books by Judith McNaught and Johanna Lindsey that i've been waiting for comes out. And I also have to complete the Twilight Series of Stephenie Meyer. But those four, er, five (the fourth book of the Twilight Series is coming out next month) are the only exceptions and nothing else. Nothing else.

Read that Jen? NOTHING ELSE!