So I’ve been thinking this week about the very serious subject of want vs need when it comes to books. After some serious thought and trips to the bookshop to prove my own point (all in the name of research, you understand) I have come to the conclusion that I was right in the first place.
There is NO difference between want and need when it comes to books!
Allow me to elaborate: My husband (who’s birthday it is today, by the way – Happy Birthday Mr Whisperer!) has suffered many years of hanging around bookshops with me while I lovingly browse amongst the shelves, touching, sniffing, cooing etc (NB I say “suffering” as that is the word he uses, I prefer to think of it as a little slice of heaven). If he’s had enough of wherever we are (or I have already looked in at least two other bookshops – which is entirely possible – only another bookaholic will understand that if you don’t go in that final one it can ruin the rest of your day wondering what you could have found in there) then I occasionally get timed. Yes, that’s right, I am allowed 5 miuntes from start to finish while he stares alternately at his watch and me which really puts me off and makes me very anxious because I can see down the other end of the shop that there are so many gems just awaiting discovery and I know I will never have time to get to them all. To be fair, he only does this when I have already spent about two hours in the previous bookshops, but still.
So, again, the want vs the need. Mr Whisperer (between sitting playing games on his iPhone on the first available chair he can find in the shop) will spot me, arms laden with books, wander past and say the now famous line “Do you really need all those?” to which I (naturally) reply “Yes”. This is then followed with “No, you WANT them all but you don’t NEED them all!”. Now, let me explain why this comment (after much consideration and research) is untrue:
Imagine, if you will, a heroine addict. Now, I have never taken drugs (probably too busy reading books at the time) so you may think it would be hard for me to imagine, but NO! You see, if a heroine addict was to walk down the street and there was a shops with beautifully arranged packets of white powder in the window with enticing offers like “3 for 2″ and a “Heroine’s Inc. Recommends” shelf, do you think they would be able to walk past and say “Oh, don’t worry I’ve already had my fix for the day. Let’s move on.”? Doubtful. My point exactly.
Let’s have another example of, say, a stressful day at work or a long drive home from a meeting or even just feeling the joys of spring and needing to celebrate (insert own reasons here). You see the bookshop, like a glowing beacon to a sailor in the fog, it’s beckoning you, you’re starting to foam at the mouth in anticipation and finally you’re there. You let out a sigh of satisfaction while you feast your eyes on all the beauties infront of you. Where do you want to be transpored to today? Africa? A post-apocolyptic wasteland? A shopping trip with a handsome beau? A castle dungeon in 1596? The world is your oyestrer, you can go anywhere, be anyone, do anything!!!
So, to conclude: There is no such thing as want for a bookaholic. I have an aholism and I need my fixes.
LOL! So very true! I’m lucky that my hubby is bookish too. He lets me browse indefinitely. He never tells me off for buying books. Clothes, yes. He thinks I own too many jumpers but books he always says “it’s your money.” Sometimes he has we need a bigger house to fit all our books in but I honestly love them strewn everywhere.
You can never have too many books OR jumpers, Becky! ;o)
Great post, Boof! I really enjoyed reading it. My hubby cannot understand why I need so many books either, but who knows what they are in the mood to read next(then it is important to have a variety of choices in our shelves
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Exactly! It is VERY important to have a huge variety of books as what happens if you’re in the mood for the one you haven’t got. It’s important to cover all bases.
Hello Boof!
I couldn’t agree with you more, when it comes to books you need what you want! – And you need it bad.
And I have to say, as someone who had to go through five years of painful law education, you make an excellent argument!
By the way I love how you and your husbands have different words to define your trips to the bookstore, they are both very creative
Lua, five years of law school does indeed sound painful – no wonder you want to become a writer.
Haha it does sound painful, doesn’t it?
Well, at least it damaged me enough to become a writer so there’s one thing to be thankful for
Yes yes and yes! You have captured the essence of bookaholism exactly. I don’t smoke, rarely drink, have never done drugs – I think my addiction to books is quite healthy (though my bank account might beg to differ).
Ha ha, Sue, mine too!
HI BOOF! my name is lisa and i’m a bookaholic.
step one. “we admitted we were powerless over books—that our lives had become unmanageable.”
love this post. thank you so much for saying what we’ve probably all been thinking for all of these years.
i’ve always said that everyone needs a vice. for some, it’s alcohol or gambling, or sex. for me, it’s books and sleep. we NEED our vices because they are as much a part of us as our virtues.
oh, and happy birthday husband!
Ooh, sleeping! That’s my other vice
)
Good post. I just went to our library book sale this morning. They have one every spring and fall. Hardcover and paperbacks 50 cents each.
As I waited in line for them to unlock the doors to the library this morning I quickly flashed back to last falls sale. At 50 cents each, my total bill was $36. Yes, I bought 72 books.
Do I need more books today….. no….. but I want them.
Sheila, 72 books? Bravo! You are my hero!
Hi !my name is Virginie and I am a bookaholic…..and I definitely do not want to be cured !!!!!
Great post, Boof, I see myself when I read it…..I went downtown today and came back with …..three new books !!!!! A Penguin student dictionary (I love Penguin !!!! I even buy their beautiful mugs with the titles of my favorite classics on them..I got three new mugs today as well), an Ann Radcliffe gothic novel and “The Girl on the Landing” by a Mr Torday.
Do I need to tell you that my TBR pile is indecently high?
Happy birthday to your DH
Have a nice sweet evening both of you.Love;
Virginie
Thanks Virginie – I am even cooking for Mr Whisperer which is a very rare occurance indeed (he cooks, I read – we have the perfect relationship)
How many books do you actually have?!
Oh blimey, I have no idea. Probably well over a thousand! I work form home and have my office set up in one room which is slowly being taken over by books and bookshelves (it’s like lichen – it sjust spreads).
Oh, it’s so nice to know that there are so many bookaholics out there and I am not alone!
Definitley not alone, Mandy. It’s nice to be part of a little (well, aparantly not-so-little) book obsessed club isn’t it?
I, too am a bookaholic. I have no husband to hold me back,only the bank balance
Oh I have that too! The bank balance AND the husband – but like all addicts I find a way (hee hee)
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[...] Take a Break – Do You Really NEED That Book? (Boof’s Bookshelf) will appeal to the Bookaholic in all of us. [...]
Oh man I love this blog!!!! It’s so nice to meet fellow WordPress bloggers who loves book as much as I do. For my birthday I received a $50 gift certificate for a bookstore. I went there and it took me two hours just to find the right books I wanted to buy. One was titled “Wedlock” which is the biography of Mary Bowes, the Countess of Strashmore. And the other is a biography on Lord Byron. The reason is takes me so long is that I need to read of a bit of each book I pick up to see whether it’s interesting or not. And then I just like reading summaries of random books. And simply just BEING inside a bookstore…..
By the way, I read your reviewing policy. One day, hopefully within the next few years, when I publish I’ll be sending you an ARC of my own book! Whoppeeee! You’re such a great reviewer.
June, I love your enthusiasm! Thanks for that. I can’t wait for you to have your own book out (from what I know of you from your blog, it would be a historical romance right?) I’ll be there celebtrating with you when you make it!
I have the book “Wedlock” too – it’s supposed to be fascinating.
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