I am a book nerd. But that’s not a strange label to have, at least not in this group. I am sure that many of us, if not all, who share our slices every Tuesday on the Two Writing Teachers blog are also book nerds. I’m not alone. I know that. But I’m coming to a strange realization: I am buying or borrowing more books that I can reasonably expect to read.
My mission is to make a dent in the hundreds of books I own plus the others that I can’t seem to stop buying on my Kindle or in print…before I buy or borrow another book. Wait. Did a lightning bolt strike me on the head? No? OK. It’s not so bad, then.
Today my students and I talked about addiction to the internet, devices and social media. I came clean ’cause I know I am drawn into the digital world as much as the next person. And, then someone said: “But there are good addictions”. And, while this may be true, even good addictions can get in the way of other activities or people in our lives.
So, I am going to confess.
I am addicted to buying books, borrowing books, having books, and wanting books.
I think this is one of the good addictions, but when I’ve spent a small fortune throughout my career and still haven’t read even 1/3 of the books I own, I have to take stock.
I have to stop buying books and catch up with reading the ones I currently own. That’s too bad because it seems that almost every day I hear about another great professional book that I must own. When this happens, my adrenalin speeds up, or whatever it is adrenalin does, and I eventually cave in and buy the book.
But I’m at that point where owning or borrowing books is not enough. I need to read them, too! (Actually, I need to write my own!)
The truth is that this is a recent problem; I was better at reading all of the books that were in my possession, borrowed or otherwise, before Twitter and Facebook. However, the power of social media is slippery and pulls me in bit by bit. But I can change this. Whenever I am tempted to reach for my phone to check on social media, I will grab the book I’m reading instead.
How about you? Do you have a book BUYING or BORROWING addiction? How are you transforming it back into a READING addiction instead?
This post was shared on The Two Writing Teachers Tuesday Slice of Life Challenge.
Elisa Waingort 
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