Sunday, November 9, 2008

Reading Frenzy

Lately, I've been on a book-buying binge. Not sure if it's stress or just exciting gems every time I pass by the bookstore or the online bookstore...

Recently, I'd become obsessed with the Kresley Cole Immortals After Dark Series. I love those books! I got one for free or maybe it was 50 cents at my local RWA chapter. We have book exchanges and raffles. One day, I got some books both in the book exchange and I won a goodie bag in a raffle. At first, I was dismayed by the quirky title: Dark Needs at Night's Edge. Who thinks up these things?

But, then I got to reading. And, I got to liking. And, I realized there was a whole series...So, from that point on, I was a goner. I read them all except for book #5--which I am postponing because I don't want to wait a long time for book #6 to come out.

A week ago, I got an email from Amazon saying that there was a 4 for the price of 3 romance novel sale. Temptation got the best of me. I saw a Christine Warren book in the promotion and I'd already read She's No Faerie Princess, so I was excited. I thought, why not just buy the rest of the series since I'm brainstorming a paranormal right now. So, I bought 5 books!

And, my friend Eden Bradley's book Forbidden Fruit came out and I was at the bookstore last weekend and had to buy it. A few weeks ago, my RWA chapter had a fundraiser at Barnes & Noble and I just had to buy something in support.

Is it time to check me into book-rehab? Or some kind of obssessive compulsive support group? Book Buyer's Anonymous?

6 comments:

Penemue said...

Oh, I definitely go on book buying binges! Those 4-for-the-price-of-3 deals kill me.

But usually, when I start feeling guilty about it, I remind myself, "Hey, of all the things to be addicted to, books aren't so bad. At least I'm not buying crack."

And then, guilt assuaged, I am free to continue my book buying spree. ;)

Vivienne Westlake said...

Yes, Aislinn. We're not buying crack. Sometimes, I try to justify it as "research". How will I ever write my book if I don't get X, Y, and Z?

My problem is I buy so many at one time that I don't have time to read them all!

Can I have book buying OCD and book reading ADD?

Mima said...

hi vivienne,

yeah, you hit it on the head for me. it's not the binge that bothers me, it's the TBR pile that exists, and i still go on the binge. once my tbr pile is down to say, oh, six or so titles, then i feel GOOD about my binges. i've been known to get a delivery of more than 2 dozen titles from my 45 page want list on amazon. but when the tbr pile is at 30 titles and i still bring home 6, i hang my head in shame...

Ms Menozzi said...

For me the cost is what is so prohibitive - that's why, when I go back to the US, I load up at McKay's used books in Knoxville. :) Used bookshops can be your friends!

Then again, while I'm in Italy, once every couple of months I go a bit haywire (after most of my pay has been used for other things) and go to the international bookshop to grab anything that looks good to me. Sometimes I don't get anything, sometimes I'll drop over a hundred euro to get all the titles I want.

The only problem I have right now is that I don't have the shelf space for all the books I have! :(

In brief - you are not alone!

Ciao!

Vivienne Westlake said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vivienne Westlake said...

I had some issues with my computer, so I'm reposting my reply:

Mima, yes, that's my problem. I do have a big TBR pile. Not quite as large as yours, but still significant.

Ms. Menozzi,

I tend to buy a lot of my books through the used Amazon marketplace as I don't have the budget to always buy books from the bookstore. Of course, I've bought a lot more in Borders and Barnes & Noble here in the US because my RWA chapter meetings are in a bookstore and I also have other weekend meetings near two bookstores, so I often stop and take a peek. It's dangerous for me, but I did manage to visit a bookstore on Saturday and not buy anything, though I was tempted.

Now, I've got to go through these 5 Christine Warren books. I didn't even mention in the blog some other books I'd gotten to read. Like the Count of Monte Cristo which I had gotten because I wanted to read Colette Gale's new book called Master, which is an eroticized version of CMC. I got through about a third of the 600 page abridged Count of Monte Cristo and stopped reading because that's when I got obsessed with the Kresley Cole books. So, eventually, I'll get through this mountain of books...