Confessions of a Bookworm

My Top 10 Bookish Confessions:

-  I have been a bookworm for about 40 years ... yes, that means I was hooked on books by the age of 1.

-  I read for a zillion reasons ... escape, entertainment, adventure, inspiration and to live vicariously.

-  I read 10+ books per week, often library books and Kindle books on my iPad.  These usually include a stack of quick adventures, YA fiction or romance novels, how-to-write, alternative education & home education theory, maybe an autobiography, one of the free classics for Kindle, or a longer book (e.g. Mao's Last Dancer).  I also read aloud to my children regularly, even though they are awesome, preteen bookworms.  

-  I sometimes experience depression, and the worse the depression, the more I read.  I guess it's because the alternative is overthinking.  When logic fails and everything is hard, escapism helps.  Reading a lot does not mean I am depressed though.  

-  I often abandon books ... if it's not captivating or challenging, I'm done.  Life's too short, etc.

-  I like books better than parties, shopping and restaurants.

-  I once QUIT reading fiction for a year!  Can you believe it?!  I made that radical, impulsive decision because I was getting lost in historical fictional worlds a little too deeply, and I wanted to get back to my priorities (faith, work, family and friends).  I survived, and it was actually a good experience.  When I returned to voracious reading, my habits and tastes had actually changed for the better.

-  I stay up late almost every night because I 'have to' read, and once I start I never want to stop.

-  I read compulsively ... labels in the shower, ingredient lists, book spines on shelves everywhere, open diaries.  No word is safe, but I have taught my eyes to 'bounce' if something is obviously private or unsavoury.  

-  I actually don't love the smell of old books, and I find most used book stores claustrophobic and sneeze-inducing (some of my dearest friends might disown me over this).

This post was inspired by Kristen A. Kieffer's 'My Top 10 Bookish Confessions'.

I would love to hear from you ... do you dare to share your bookish confessions?