Let me start this article by confessing something: I’m a bibliophile. My love for books has started since I don’t know when, but books have always enthralled me throughout my growing years. Be it a novel or a magazine, I read almost anything I could lay my hands on. While Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and Lewis Carroll occupied my childhood, O. Henry, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde dominated my teen years. However, my fascination with novels started precisely after reading Jeffrey Archer’s stories. The magical world of books engulfs me so much that I become utterly dissociated from the real world and lose track of time. To cut the long story short, being a bibliophile isn’t an easy task. Right from getting strange glances from friends and relatives to constantly running out of shelf space, the list is endless. So, I have compiled a list of ten of the most distressing problems that I believe every book lover can relate to.
Feeling empty or becoming absent-minded after finishing a good book
If you are a bonafide bibliophile, I am sure you can relate to this point. I have personally experienced this countless times. From crying over Sparks’ Nights in Rodanthe to wondering over Jill Castle’s characterization in A Stranger in the Mirror, I have been away with the fairies many times 😛
Well, too many books aren’t TOO…many books at all
One can never have too many books, right? From buying the highly anticipated releases of the most prolific authors to stacking the 5789322 books that I have purchased and not yet read, too many books aren’t too many at all.
Running out of space
Yep, you read that right. A bibliophile knows the struggle of heaping up and trying to compress books in multiple corners. After all, piling up books would supposedly be chic, no? Amidst the cries of oh-no-yet-another-book from my parents and silent glares from my friends, I would go on with compiling an overflowing wishlist of books and trying to break my mind by deciding what to read next. As a potential solution, I purchased a kindle to store zillions of ebooks to read them whenever and wherever I want (Mine is paperwhite). But I soon realized that the happiness of reading from a hardcover could never be matched (even if it is a paperwhite), so my kindle is now snoring happily in a corner.
Losing bookmarks constantly and thinking of dog-earring as an option
Dog-earring a book?
I mean, why would you do that to a good book?
But, yes, since I lose bookmarks more often, I am forced to think of dog-earring as an option. It isn’t that easy (sigh).
Moaning that there isn’t enough time to read
Yeah, you read that right again. More often than not, due to my busy lifestyle, I only get to read books at night. So, I try to find creative ways to find more time to read, only to find that my attempt at squeezing some more time isn’t that adequate. Well…good books can do that to you, right?
Dreaming of spending an entire ‘free day’ just by reading
Once during my college years, I spent a whole day just reading and doing nothing else. Yeah, I devoured Sheldon’s Memories of Midnight (ah, who can resist a compelling thriller?), followed by reading Cecelia Ahern’s A place called Here, The Gift and Thanks for the Memories. It was a day well spent although I got an earful from my mother afterwards 😛 I am dreaming of repeating it though I can’t envision it soon 🙁
Waiting for the release of the next book in a series
This should be one of the most tragic problems a book lover has: Finishing an exciting book that is part of a well-received series and waiting for the next instalment by a year or two. But every book is worth the wait, ultimately 😊. I still vividly remember waiting in the bookstore right from the morning to lay my hands on a copy of Nothing Ventured, a novel by Jeffrey Archer.
Libraries would seem like places of worship
Have you ever enjoyed the feeling of getting lost in a library? I am—quite a few times. I love entering a library and perusing through the long list of books that are neatly stacked on a plethora of shelves. I also love the smell of books that emanate from those shelves. It is just an incredible feeling that can be never be replaced by anything, at least to me.
Not having ‘bookish’ friends to share our zeal
Yeah, this is one problem I have often faced. Since I am a complete bookworm and most of my friends are not, they can never share my enthusiasm about an author or a book. All they would do is simply stare at me as though I have come from an alien world. It is a tragedy that I could neither share my recommendations nor get some ideas about my next reading list from them.
Getting disturbed while reading an exciting book
How many of you have experienced continuous disturbances while reading your favourite book? Please raise your hands!!
Whenever I read one of my favourite books, I would invariably be disturbed by someone ringing my doorbell or by someone I know or phone calls. Oh, come on, let me enjoy my reading peacefully!
So, I guess these aspects are some of the most disturbing problems that every book lover can relate to. I am sure that there would be some more, so please don’t hesitate to mention them in the comments section
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