Kindle – Addiction or Compulsion?

I admit it. I'm a little OCD. Not a lot. Not in the traditional sense. But there are some things that once I start, I MUST keep going. It's how I got the Angry Birds hand injury. Overplaying. It's how I hurt it again when I overdo Words for Friends on the iPhone. And now it's encroached on what should be a harmless hobby. Reading.

I've always been a fast reader. I can finish a book a day (a regular mass market or hardcover book). I'm not a speed reader or anything. I'm also not a detail oriented person so maybe there's some skimming involved. I couldn't tell you colors or what characters are wearing (heck I can rarely do that in my own books!) but characters themselves and plot? That I can read fast and still follow and remember. Once I bought my Kindle, I realized I was doing a lot more reading but in fits and spurts. I'd read a book or two, then put the device away for awhile and go back to it a few weeks later. But instead of buying books that stacked up in a TBR pile, I'd read and finish them. I stopped letting myself buy books until I was ready to read them, so nothing piles up. Plus I can read samples and know if I want to buy the book or not. So this all started as a very good thing. Not to mention that as a writer, reading opens up my world, my horizons, and sparks my imagination. Still a good thing!

For a long time I felt like all I was reading was new books by authors I loved and whose backlists I'd already been through. That's why I felt like I had reading dry spells, I guess. I wasn't finding new authors. But then I started reading paranormal – in one two week period, I read Nalini Singh's entire Psy-Changeling series of 9 books. These were deep and compelling but I still finished them pretty quickly. I expanded to a few other paranormal authors but nothing overwhelming reading-wise.

And then. And then. Next vacation, I discovered new authors. Lauren Dane. Maya Banks. Shelli Stevens. Bella Andre. Authors with series of books I'd never read before. Authors with more than one series of books that I'd never read before. Excited didn't begin to describe it!

In the month of:

February – 13 books

March – 22 books

April – 47 books (some short stories!) - just popped back in to add (before Janelle passes out) there was vacation time involved here – and I'd just finished writing a book and had taken time off!

To say I'm a little concerned is an understatement. BUT I have pretty much been through MOST not ALL of these backlists. I'm getting there. I also have to say I can take the Kindle anywhere which is huge, I can read wherever I am when I'm waiting. In my defense, I'm not giving up other things to read – kids are cared for, work is done, books are turned in. I don't read until/unless I'm out of the house (and couldn't otherwise be writing) or I've done my page count for the day.

And thanks to the reading, I've met new writers who have become friends. That's a good thing, right?

So … addiction or compulsion? And is it really so bad?

Hint – answer unknown until Amazon bill arrives!