Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Book Related Problems I Have

Quirk Books is linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for Top 10 Tuesday! This week we’re talking about the book related problems we have. I got 99 problems and they’re all related to books, so this post is creepily similar to you sitting in on a therapy session.

Problem #1: I can’t fight the habit of writing notes in books. I know that this makes me a horrible person, but there’s a thrill to writing on the pages of a book. It could be because in elementary school we were always threatened with death (not really) if we wrote in the library books. I’m not a monster—I do not write things in library books—but I do mark up the books I own. If you ever borrow a book of mine, there’s a 75% chance you’ll know exactly what I was thinking when you least want to hear my thoughts.

Problem #2: No matter what, I never have enough bookshelf space. Where does everyone put all the books?! I keep buying bookshelves and I still have no space. I have stacks of books everywhere. My cat is drowning in a sea of book towers. The books are balancing against every piece of furniture imaginable. Books. Everywhere.

Problem #3: I usually won’t purchase a book if I don’t like the cover. I guess I’m a design snob. If I’m going to spend money on a book, I want to like the entire thing not just the words. It’s not that I won’t read books if I don’t like the cover, I just probably won’t buy them. (Thanks, library!)

Problem #4: Sometimes I fall asleep when I should be reading. I really like sleep. If I have time to take a nap during the day, then that day is automatically one of my favorite days of the year. Whether it’s reading a book or watching a movie, if the sky is dark and my mind starts to wander then I’ll be asleep in five minutes. Seriously. I’m the type who needs to wake up early to read rather than stay up all night. I might as well be turning 85 this year.

Problem #5: I can never read Harry Potter for the first time again. Sigh. This is the most depressing book-related problem. And it’s not even limited to the Harry Potter series. Thinking about every single one of my favorite books makes me sad. There is nothing like experiencing a truly great story for the first time.

Problem #6: There are too many books in the world. This will probably be on every Top 10 Tuesday list this week. The list of books I want to read is ridiculous. There’s no way I can read everything I’d like to in my lifetime. Boo.

Problem #7: Hardcover books are way too heavy to hold, but they look really nice. My wrists hate me whenever I buy a new hardcover book. Hardcovers also hurt really badly when they fall on your face (see Problem #4). It would be so much easier to avoid them altogether if they didn’t look so nice on the million bookshelves in my home (see Problem #2).

Problem #8: My bookmarks always disappear. You know how socks always go missing from the dryer? Well, this is my problem with bookmarks (I have the socks problem too, but that’s not relevant to books.) I have no idea where the bookmarks go. The only bookmark I’ve been able to keep for a decent amount of time is the one I have with Wall-E on the front. I guard that one with my life.

Problem #9: I read very few e-books and that makes travelling very difficult. I read a lot of manuscripts on my iPad for work, so I prefer physical books when I read for fun. It’s a tricky way to make my mind think it’s still sane. I won’t read an e-book unless I have to (for example, when a book I want to read is only published in e-book form), so packing a suitcase or a carry-on bag is a nightmare. Especially when those books are hardcovers (see Problem #7).

Problem #10: No one ever buys me books because I read too many books. Does anyone else know what I’m talking about? Everyone knows I love books, and that I’d prefer to get books over pretty much any other gift, and yet no one actually gets me books for one of two reasons: 1) They think I already own too many books (here’s lookin’ at you, Mom); 2) They are worried they’ll buy me something I’ve already read or own. I just want more books.

I think this post proves I am a very problematic bookworm. What are your worst bookish issues? Let us know in the comments!