Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Books and bad habits

It's no secret that I love books and I'm proud of my continuously growing collection. My parents always had tons of books all over the house when I was growing up as a child,  and even now, there are stacks of books in their room along with full bookcases. And I never understood why since I loathed reading. It took me until I was old enough to figure out that I could read what I wanted, and not always what my teachers told me to, to realize that reading isn't so bad. And from there, it skyrocketed. 
I have an incredibly bad habit of spending copious amounts of time on websites like bookmooch and whichbook, most of the time, at the same time. Now, if you're not familiar with these sites; bookmooch is a website where you trade books with people all over the country, and if you so desire, the world. It's based on points, so the only money spent is on shipping. Whichbook, is a site I came across on stumbleupon and it allows you to search for books based on chosen criteria such as long or short, safe or disturbing, easy or demanding, etc.
FYI: It's rare when I've come across a book on whichbook that I previously heard or knew about. 
Anyway, usually my idea of the perfect day is sleeping in past noon and turning on the tv, listening to music and opening 2 tabs for bookmooch and whichbook and letting the day slip away "book hunting" as I call it. There are tons of books I found on whichbook that aren't available on bookmooch but I have them saved in my "wishlist" on bookmooch (I'm now up to 100 and counting). 
One thing about bookmooch that I love is that it links directly to amazon, and shows the current lowest prices of each book, as they depreciate with time. If I find a book that is particularly interesting, I have a hard time waiting for it to be found or available and jump immediately to amazon.
I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to getting books (practically for free) in the mail. There's just nothing like it. If I could sum it up, it would be that it's like Christmas year-round. Remember what being a kid and getting a new toy for no reason felt like? This is my sober adult equivalent. I have to say, I tend to find something's missing whenever I'm not getting books in the mail, the anticipation is so sweet. I liken it to the habits of a hoarder. I try to be a "glass half-full" type of person; I chew gum almost constantly and tell people I don't stop because, as far as I'm concerned, it could be cigarettes. And I'm not going to stop book hunting because, what's so bad about having a ton of books? In my opinion, an overflowing bookcase and stacks of books are a small price to pay for a "bad" habit.