Monday 14 January 2008

My Name is Emma and I'm a Bookaholic...

Excuse me while I go a little 'Bridget Jones' on you for a moment and take a line or two to state last week’s vital statistics:

Books bought from a shop: 2
Books that arrived through the post: 5
Books still on order: 11
Books given away/sold on e-bay/thrown out/used as kindling on chilly days/in any other way ejected from the household: 0

On Saturday, Jeanette Winterson wrote in the 'Books' section of The Times that she starts each new year by lugging a load of unwanted books to the charity shop, so that she can 'fill up the spaces on the shelves with new possibilities.' An excellent idea. It's just such a pity that I find myself utterly unable to emulate her. I am, as you have probably guessed, a big fan of the new possibilities that new books bring; it's the eviction of old books to make room for them that tends to give me some difficulty. I just can't bring myself to part with them, not even as I witness the bookcases filling up and the unlucky newcomers forced to squat in piles on the floor, next to the shelves that should have been theirs.

There was a brief break with tradition early last year when three very well populated (in the literary sense, that is) rooms found themselves invaded and then subject to a lengthy occupation by The Builders. Until that time, every book that I'd ever owned was still residing under the same roof as me – picture books, early readers, school textbooks, old favourites and new bestsellers – they were all there. But along with the builders came the requirement to thin the herd. A serious cull was called for and it came in the shape of eleven bulging plastic bags-worth of books, divided between the charity shop and one of the local schools.

This mass expulsion left me feeling liberated, no longer restricted by the conviction (hitherto set in stone) that ownership of a book was 'for life'. I was even able to return from my summer holiday and immediately put two of the books I had just read straight into the charity box. I hadn't particularly enjoyed them and I knew that, unlike many other volumes in my possession, I would never wish to read them again, so I sent them out into the world with a happy heart, rejoicing in the knowledge that The Great Book Giveaway of early 2007 had not been a one-off.

And so I believed. But since then? Nothing. More beautiful, shiny books keep coming into the house, but none are leaving. I went into WHSmith for a packet of DVD sleeves yesterday; I left with the sleeves, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and J L Carrell’s The Shakespeare Secret. A short while ago, I went to Tesco’s to pick up some large jiffy bags and wrapping paper and came home with the jiffy bags, wrapping paper, P J Tracy’s Snow Blind and The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt. The Book People told me that they had a sale on, so I popped over to their site – just to satisfy myself that I wasn’t missing anything, you understand – and ended up ordering nine items, mostly reference books of one kind or another.

I just couldn’t say no. I wanted to (kind of – okay, not really), but I couldn’t. And it was this latest order that finally forced me to face the truth that I share with you now: my name is Emma King-Farlow and I’m a bookaholic.

8 comments:

Nik Perring said...

Emapthy a plenty!

Nik ;)

Emma K-F said...

Thanks, Nik - it's good to know that I'm not alone! Perhaps we should consider a 12 Step Programme... ;-)

Emma x

Nik Perring said...

I think a 12 chapter programme would be more apt. Oh! the untamed wit! ;)

Emma K-F said...

Lol! :-)

CyberKitten said...

I bought 11 books on Saturday - and another is due from Amazon in the next few days.....

But as the assistant in Borders kindy said "I can think of worse addictions"

Oh... & I also have 25 books that I'm reading ATM piled up by my bedside.

Emma K-F said...

Thank God that someone else is into double figures over the course of a single week! Or, in your case, Cyberkitten, a single day - I (and a legion of other bookaholics) salute you!

I must say, however, that you've got me well and truly beaten on the 'by the bedside' front. I've got a mere four books actually on the go at the moment and another three queuing with them by my bed - the rest simply have to wait their turn on (or vaguely near) the shelves... ;-)

CyberKitten said...

Emma said: Thank God that someone else is into double figures over the course of a single week! Or, in your case, Cyberkitten, a single day - I (and a legion of other bookaholics) salute you!

Thanks. I think my one day record is 26.

Emma said: I must say, however, that you've got me well and truly beaten on the 'by the bedside' front.

What can I say... I love starting books. I intend to finish most of them - eventually.

Emma said: I've got a mere four books actually on the go at the moment and another three queuing with them by my bed - the rest simply have to wait their turn on (or vaguely near) the shelves... ;-)

At an average of reading one book per week I estimate that it will take me 8-10 years to finish my present fiction backlog. I'm not sure how long it will take me to finish the non-fiction. I'm too afraid to even start an estimate.

Emma K-F said...

Thanks. I think my one day record is 26.

Ah, now the fact that I can top that total is entirely due to www.thebookpeople.co.uk's tendency to sell some great collections of reference books at ridiculous prices, e.g. 10 books for £8.99 or something. I think my one day record is somewhere around 34 - 1 set of 10, 2 sets of 8 and a gaggle of individuals!

What can I say... I love starting books. I intend to finish most of them - eventually.

Starting them is fun, isn't it? Though I've only recently managed to convince myself that the simple act of starting a book in no way commits you to having to finish it, should it turn out to be a disappointment. I used to be a fully paid-up member of the 'I've started, so I'll finish' school of thought; now I subscribe to the 'life's too short and there are too many better books out there to waste my time with this one' philosophy.

At an average of reading one book per week I estimate that it will take me 8-10 years to finish my present fiction backlog. I'm not sure how long it will take me to finish the non-fiction. I'm too afraid to even start an estimate.

LOL - I don't blame you! :-)