Books

I really love books.  It's actually kind of ridiculous.  I don't buy a lot of them (well, sometimes I do).  Other people give them as gifts but I get a lot from the library.  It's caused a bit of strife in my marriage because they're just...EVERYWHERE!  I generally read three or four at a time and try to finish at least two books a week.  But I have sort of strange requirements when it comes to books.  I like to have hard cover books for the treadmill.  It's easier to prop them open while I run.  I use binder clips and rubberbands to hold my pages.  I like to have a large paperback up in my room because I like to read while I'm drying my hair in the morning (it's a lot of hair).  A big enough paperback will hold itself open and I don't have to resort to a balancing act with my phone or the nearby candle.  I'm not above doing this but it has resulted in at least one broken candle and near misses with my phone in the toilet.  I listen to audio books in the car but in the smaller car, it has to be a book on CD.  In the van I can use one of those mp3 players that the library sometimes has or if I have an audio book on my phone, I can plug that into the car.  I carry six or seven books with me to work and then back home at the end of the day because I read on my lunch hour (when I take one) or if its a book on fundraising (I have lots of those), I might read it here and there during the work day.

I used to go to the library once a week when I lived in Kansas.  I'd check out as many as I could carry and my goal was always to return more than I checked out the next week.  It didn't always work...  Sometimes I go to the bookstore to browse, write down all of the books I'd buy if I had more money (and more shelving) then request them from the library.  I try to space the requests out so that I don't end up with all of them at once but everytime I go to pick up a requested book, I end up browsing a bit and find 10 more that I just HAVE to have.  I've gotten better about giving up on books that aren't interesting or entertaining.  Most recently I got almost to the end of Brad Thor's The Inner Circle and the mp3 player kept shutting off.  I finally decided that it wasn't interesting enough to keep messing with the thing and I have no idea how it ended.

There used to be a library between my old office and home, so frequently, I would stop by on my way to/from work and put things in the overnight drop or run in and pick up something I'd reserved.  My new office is close enough to a library to visit on a lunch break but it's not conveniently located along my route.  While it has resulted in fewer trips, I can't say that it's resulted in fewer books.  In an attempt to organize my book clutter, Nick bought me a new iPod, a Kindle and a subscription to Audible for Christmas a few years ago.  All it really did was feed the frenzy.  Now I can use my Kindle while I run and a lot of the classics that I don't have are in the free section so I'm working my way through The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, which I read in college but barely remember except that I really liked it.  But I like to save it for morning runs so I always have something that works on the treadmill.

I've taken all of my "fundraising" books and my EMBA books into my office to reduce the shelf space I require at home and just last week I decided to donate a book.  Still, it's a drop in the proverbial ocean.  But hey, I could collect something silly like old stamps or handbags or something useless.  I've decided this is something I like about me.  I know it's crazy to carry so many books with me all the time but reading is so much fun!  I'm going to do it as often as I can and continue to hide piles of books in my office, next to my bed and on my treadmill.  There's never one out of reach, so it doesn't matter where I am.  At any point in time, I can pick up whatever's nearby and dive right in.