Confessions of a Bookaholic

I don't just LOVE books, to me they are as necessary as food and shelter and currently hover higher up the list than chocolate, alcohol and sex. You get the picture?  Every available shelf, table, corner of the floor is full and overflowing with tomes of ambrosial escapism.  Ambrosial you ask?  Yes, that smell of books is one of the best smells I can imagine (and I'm not talking old grotty, dust carriers) - to me it smells like the beginning of a journey, of making new friends and of falling in love all wrapped up in a few hundred pages.  I wouldn't go as far as wanting to smell like a book, but I want to smell books for the rest of my days... Which is why I am not interested in ever getting a kindle or the like. I couldn't count how many times friends have suggested that I invest in an e-book reader, however there are many reasons that I don't consider them a great option for me.  First and foremost - I share my books, primarily with my mum and sister and secondly, the joy of holding a new book, of smelling it, of lovingly turning down the pages (The Horror!), of hugging it to my chest and occasionally the satisfaction of throwing it at the nearest wall - are all too priceless to swap for a sterile flat screen. I don't often throw books.  I admit to throwing one of my all time favourite books - Tess of the D'Urbervilles - when Angel Clare first showed his bigoted side (he redeemed himself though) and  I most likely kissed the book better too ;)

The last time I moved house I had 2 3/4 moving trucks full (as well as countless car trips) and the removalists made some comment about one load was just for books - they probably weren't wrong either.  I really do love my books, and I don't feel at home in any house that is devoid of them.  To me they are little advertisements as to who the occupants of the house are.  I used to fear being judged by my books, (seriously!) as I had a few shelves of 'new age' books in the early 1990's when it wasn't fashionable to do so and I was struggling in that no-mans' land between being a hip and free party girl to being a respectable soon to be wife and new mum.  I didn't want people to look at my books and assume I was different or weird or not their kind of person.  I wanted to be accepted for who I was (or thought I was at the time more precisely).  I now display them as something I'm very proud of - they are my plumes - colourful, rich, incandescent and enchanting. If people think I read rubbish then they are likely to think the same thing about me.  On the other hand, if they find my book choices interesting, unusual, sometimes predictable and mainstream and at other times just plain weird, then they will have a pretty good summary of me as a person. On that note, if you're interested in seeing some of the books I've read then check out my goodreads page. If you become inspired and want to read any of them I can't recommend booko highly enough as a great place to find the cheapest books - including postage - delivered to Australia.

No doubt I'll waffle on some more about books at some point as I'm always waiting for the tell-tale double ring of the doorbell which signifies a delivery - and on those mornings when it's oblong and bendy and weighty and smells like a new beginning and then IF you can tear me away from a cosy corner or entice me in from the sunny spot in the garden and prise the precious paperback from my hands - I'll tell you, trust me.