On Reading

I have a serious problem. I have had this problem for years and it's a habit that has never wavered or changed over the course of these years.
I, Dawn MacLeod, cannot put a book down.
I know. I told you it was serious.

Since June of this year I have read around 20 books. For a really long time I couldn't find a book that would hold my attention or capture my interest, which is very strange because I will read, and have read, just about anything. A list of books I've read this year:

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen
The unauthorized biography of Axl Rose
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant
The Hunger Games Trilogy
One Fish Two Fish by Dr. Seuss
The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo and it's sequel.
The Runner's Rule Book
I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (secretly James Frey. Remember him?)
One Day by David Nicholls
Russell Brands My Booky Wook.

Clearly, I'll read anything.
As a kid I vividly remember the bedtime reading sessions with my Dad. He'd sit through many a Babysitters Club book just to hear me read and learn new words. I'm so sorry about that Dad, I'm sure it was painful and you probably nodded off more than a few times.Often when I was hyper about something or had big plans coming up (like visiting cousins!) and I couldn't sit still mom would tell me to get a book. One because I was pissing her off, two because she knew it'd calm me down. This is where the problem started. Because as soon as I opened up a book I'd dive in to that particular world with abandon. I get lost in the story and the places and the time and I have an insatiable drive to know what happens in the end, and therefore I stay up late reading until I either a) finish b) pass out with the lights on. I have this problem with red wine as well. I need to finish the bottle so that a) I know what happens at the bottom and b) I pass out with the lights on.

I happen to have 3 books on the go right now, and 4 books on hold at the public library. Good lord, what happens if all the books on hold suddenly become available? I'll be buried underneath the novels and I'll have to fall asleep with the lights on cause I won't be able to reach the switch!!!
Speaking of public libraries. These institutions are the greatest. Go in, sign out a book, walk out. You don't even have to pay. It's kind of like stealing. Okay, borrowing I know, cause generally you'll return the book in a couple of weeks, which is why people say the sentence "I just borrowed a couple of books from the library" which means they will return it. I went many years NOT going to the public library, preferring to build my own library at my house. I like collecting books I'll read again, and I like knowing that people will one day peruse my shelves whence they visit my house and comment something such as "oh, you've read 'The Origins of the First World War' aren't you just so smart and knowledgeable." Yes, yes I am.
And I kept my study books from my college days too, thinking 'well, I'm sure one day I'll skim through the pages of Psychology 101'. Eventually my collection got too big, I moved one too many times and books got too damned expensive, so I rediscovered the free wonders of the Public Library.
I also have a habit of walking and reading. People used to laugh at me when they saw me walking around town with my nose in a book. I can actually walk a fair bit without injuring myself, and I get to plow through a couple of chapters. Win win.
I'm so glad I have a love of books and reading in general, and an active imagination so that I can create the authors world in my own head and I can't wait to pass this on to my kids. I'd gladly sit through a hundred sittings of "Green Eggs and Ham" just to hear my kid read it to me.
I have a weird thing I do when I've moved houses in the past: the first thing I pack are the books, and the first thing to get unpacked in the new place are the books, cause it's not really home until you have a shelf full of books.
Enough blathering. I have a book to finish reading.