Books, Books, Books, Books
I had to change my rules today. I stood at Klassekampens Julemesse (Christmas sale) with bunch of books in my arms that I had been wanting to buy for a long time but my read three before buying one new book rule would only have allowed me to buy one of them. So on the spot I rewrote my rules and made one exemption a year. Book bought at Klassekampens Julemesse do not count because it is such a unique chance to get cheap books. Pretty pathetic isn’t it?
I left the place with 7 books by authors such as Umerto Eco, Toni Morrison, Knut Hamsun, Karen Blixen, and Leo Tolstoy and paid whopping 100 NOK (or approx 12 Euros). Had I bought these books in a Norwegian bookstore I would have had to pay at least 12 euros for each one of them. I made an even better bargain last year but this was a pretty good day:-).
Now I just need to find time to read these books, and all the other books that are on my to be read list.
Talking about books, the author of one of my all time favorite book Wild Swans by Jung Chang actually appeared on Norwegian TV a week ago. I had only few hours earlier taken out my copy of the book from my bookshelf to show to my boyfriend because I was discussing Mao. It was like have euphoric moment to see her on TV (on Fredrik Skavlan's show). I felt like she had just popped out of my book. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is about herself, her mom, and her grandmothers life in China during the 20th century. It spans from the Manchu Empire to the Cultural Revolution and mentions the author's blind admiration of Chairman Mao, which she has now written a hateful book about.
I highly recommend Wild Swans to everyone interested in different cultures and history. The book about Mao I haven't read but I have placed it on my wish list in hope somebody will buy it for me at Christmas.
I really feel obsessed when it comes to book. I honestly think I spend more time thinking about all the books I want to read than I do actually spend reading. Scary! I will make a prediction here that doesn't really show my good side. I can promise you that even though I am dying to read all these books I am pretty sure that by next years Julemesse I wont have read all the books that I bought this time. Just like I haven't read all of last year’s books yet.
Do they have therapies for people like me?
Therapy
There are a few things you can do.
- Building bookshelves.
- Classifying all your books according to some reasonable scheme (apart from colour, which is in fact the best way if it is just your own books).
- Giving away a book from your shelf to each of your friends.
But my basic rule is that secondd-hannd or super-cheap books are allowed to be bought any time. I'm a bit stricter on buying new books - though not as strict as you.
I like having books. I like reading books. I live with many many half-read books, and one day I will not have finished them but will not read any more. In the meantime, I pick them up and begin.
A friend of mine actually quit chatting the other day to go and read. I thought about how lovely that would be, but I don't do it often. Most of my reading is done while travelling - stuck in a bus, plane or airport...
Ah another bookworm:-)
Well, space is not an issue yet. My worry is the growing number of books that I haven't read yet. It feels wasteful! I have a major problem departing with my books which makes giving them to my friends to painful to endure. Yes, I am a cheap bastard:-).
I have been cataloging my books in Book Collector which is a pretty good program which will probably help me keep track of them when they become too many to remember.
I don't plan to stick to my rules forever but only as long as it takes to read a resonable amount of the unread books I have. Or until I force myself to give some of them away or sell. Maybe I should go and do a real count of how many unread books I have...