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20 Problems Only Book Lovers Understand
Non-bibliophiles don't always feel your pain…but you're among friends here! We asked on Facebook and Twitter: What's a problem only book lovers understand? We got more than 1,000 amazing responses. Check out some of our favorites and share your own bookish struggles in the comments.
1. "The urge to buy books even though you still have too many books to read at home." Rie VdWarth
2. "Feeling sad for people who don't really exist." Kimberly Moniz
3. "RUNNING OUT OF SHELF SPACE!!!" Kim
4. "Getting interrupted when you are on the last few pages of a book." Sobe Daya
5. "The book hangover. When a good book finishes but you can't start a new one because you're still too immersed in the last book to move on." Meagan Lewis
6. "Wanting every book in a library section but knowing it is impossible to read all of them." Richard Azia
7. "Waiting so long for a sequel that you forget what happened in the first book." Jessica Luong
8. "When you're lying in bed and it's all cold in your room—and the hand holding the book freezes to death, even though the rest of you is warm under the blankets." Alina Marie Swan
9. "Finishing a book and having to wait a whole year to read the next in the series." Sarah Scanion
10. "Trying to keep the book dry while reading in the bath." Patricia Boland
11. "Ordering a book online and getting the book with the movie cover. A book with a movie cover just doesn't feel the same." Anna RN
12. "Not being able to read and eat lunch at the same time because you don't have a third arm." Bernadette
13. "When someone borrows your book and doesn't return it for ages!" Pallavi B
14. "Deciding. Which. Book. To. Read. First." Monique Balsamo
15. "Getting to a 'can't stop reading' spot in the book and it's 3:00am." Joan Chesley
16. "When you have a book with you, but it's not the one you wanted to read right then." Virginia Osborne
17. "Being forced to stop reading by other obligations, but choosing to ignore those obligations. Then getting in trouble." Feel Like Fangirling
18. "Packing for a trip and never being able to bring enough books." Erika Gallion
19. "Having a book fall on your face because you're reading on your back while holding the book up." Manuel Cedillo
20. And the ultimate book lovers' dilemma: "So many books, so little time." Navy Reading
Don't see your reader-specific problem? Share it with your fellow Goodreads members in the comments! Chances are you'll find someone (or many someones) who feel your book pain.
Check out more recent blogs:
7 Great Books Hitting Shelves This Week
Your Most Successful Book Club Picks
Readers to the Rescue: Your Best Book Club Tips
(Top image credit: Illustration by Quentin Blake for Roald Dahl's Matilda.)
Comments Showing 601-650 of 922 (922 new)
All of the above! Especially the one hand freezing while the rest of you is covered up and toasty, has been a problem lately.
all the points above are on the spot!, and I agree, no truer words were ever said. Feeling sad for people who dont really exist is actual trauma that only readers can truly understand;)
Hadia wrote: "Feeling sad for people who dont really exist is actual trauma that only readers can truly understand;)"Not reading is such a waste of life.
Hadia wrote: "all the points above are on the spot!, and I agree, no truer words were ever said. Feeling sad for people who don't really exist is actual trauma that only readers can truly understand;)"My favorite quote from the Teen Titans animated series: "Just because I imagine him doesn't mean he isn't real." — Melvin, about Bobby (a 10-foot tall Teddy bear who is usually invisible).
Of course literary characters "really exist". They existed first in the mind of the author who created them. They exist in the minds of every person who reads about them. They will continue to exist as long as that book is read and/or remembered. And the nicest thing about literary characters is that you can revisit them in their world(s) as often as you want to.
Some literary characters even become movie characters and become familiar to folks who would hardly ever crack open a book: Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bennet; Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson; Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler; Bond, James Bond; Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia (though I suppose they were movie characters first); Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Draco Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, and the rest of the Hogwarts crew; et cetera. The point is, every one of those people are "real", sometimes seeming even more so than your next-door neighbors.
Stephanie wrote: "When people say the movie was better. Seriously?"I agree Stephanie. I always see the movie first and read the book second to see the real story. I also enjoy the movie more too because I am not comparing it to the book.
I like to read the book sometimes, before or after I see a movie. That's the only way to find out what REALLY happened.
Grace wrote: "I like to read the book sometimes, before or after I see a movie. That's the only way to find out what REALLY happened."If there is a chance I prefer to read the book first. In my opinion it's the best way, that is to see visualized what you have already imagined.
No shame i am all 20. One more i could easily add is... being interrupted by your partner whilst reading so just nod and agree to something you didnt actually listen to
After our first move, my husband lovingly gifted me with both a Kindle Paperwhite & a library card in our new town. I don't think he enjoyed moving all my books. Noted: I don't have to buy all the books. I usually have 3 books going at once. 1 that I'm reading with the kids. 1 on my Kindle. 1 physical book from the library. Unless it's a really serious book, like any of the Gentleman Bastard or The Song of Ice and Fire books, then they get my undivided attention.
Wendy wrote: "But let' s be honest: when other people are annoyed because they have to wait anywhere, someone with a book or a reading device enjoy just a little bit more pleasure time with books.And of course..."
I try to always have a book with me AT ALL TIMES. Hey, you never know...there might a dead time. No problem, I just start reading!
When you're heartbroken when you found out that you need 2 forms of address identification (and you only have one) in order to get a library card.
Alex wrote: "When you're heartbroken when you found out that you need 2 forms of address identification (and you only have one) in order to get a library card."Alex, check your library system requirements. Most libraries will accept some kind of official document containing both your name and address -- a utility bill, a lease agreement, a current paycheck stub, a tax notice from the IRS -- as well as a photo ID such as a driver's license or a state ID card. You can hardly blame them in these days of rampant identity theft.
When the character's voice suddenly changes to that of your child asking, "When's dinner?", or "Will you come put me to bed?"
Yes!! All of them. And when people ask 'Is it a good book? What's it about?' while you're in the middle of reading it. Or your parents practically begging you to read less because it's costing them too much money, or a teacher questioning if you really read all those books over the summer.
Sitting in your driveway for 20 minutes after you arrive home because you are finishing a chapter in the audio book you are listening to.
When you've become accustomed to e-Book readers, but from time-to-time finding the old-fashioned book in your hand, and the pages not turning when you tap it with your finger.
Linda wrote: "Alex wrote: "When you're heartbroken when you found out that you need 2 forms of address identification (and you only have one) in order to get a library card."Alex, check your library system req..."
I don't live alone or pay the bills I still live with my family so its my parents who does the work so that's out. I can't drive and my non-driver ID is expired so I need to get a new one later. All I have is my mail for proof for now.
Alex wrote: "Linda wrote: "Alex wrote: "When you're heartbroken when you found out that you need 2 forms of address identification (and you only have one) in order to get a library card."Have you considered asking one of your parents to get a library card for your use?
Linda wrote: "Alex wrote: "Linda wrote: "Alex wrote: "When you're heartbroken when you found out that you need 2 forms of address identification (and you only have one) in order to get a library card."Have you..."
Yes hopefully my dad will agree though
Alex, I will keep my fingers crossed. No reader should be without access to his/her local library.
Linda wrote: "Alex, I will keep my fingers crossed. No reader should be without access to his/her local library."Thank you and I agree completely.
Joanne wrote: "What to read next!!!!!!"Read Robert N.Morris, the series Porfiry Petrovich of four books, it's about the investigator from the Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky cracking other crimes. That's extraordinary and rattling good yarn.
Finding out that a favorite author has passed away. The end of the line is the last book read by that author.
Guilty of all but the tub. How about getting close to the end of a wonderful book and closing the cover because you can't stand for it to end?
Belinda-marie wrote: "When you've become accustomed to e-Book readers, but from time-to-time finding the old-fashioned book in your hand, and the pages not turning when you tap it with your finger."I was just doing this not even two hours ago and started laughing when my page wouldn't turn!
Remembering forever that person who did not return the book she borrowed.
Gail wrote: "Remembering forever that person who did not return the book she borrowed."Or the person who returned the book AFTER dozing off and dropping it in the tub!
Vanessa wrote: "Going to the library and finding out they have the first 2 books in a trilogy but DONT HAVE THE LAST ONE!!!!"Or random books in a series. With every library in the state mysteriously missing the same book in said series. Why?
When you know you should be parenting right now but just have to read the last page while hiding in the bathroom.
When you're torn between attending an event or stay at home to finish your book.
Michelle wrote: "Mwanamali wrote: "Trying to keep the book dry while reading in the bath." Patricia BolandFAVOURITE"
this was me yesterday!! I've only ever dropped one in once. I was ashamed."
I was reading Jaws in the tub and had to get out after the shark attack description fraked me - wrong place to read that!
Susanamantha wrote: "Finding out that a favorite author has passed away. The end of the line is the last book read by that author."I shed a tear when we lost Ruth Rendell.
Going to the library and finding they dont have the first or fourth book in the series... this actually just happened to me with the Mercy Thompson series by patricia briggs. I swear i almost started crying right in the library.
Angela wrote: "Susanamantha wrote: "Finding out that a favorite author has passed away. The end of the line is the last book read by that author."I shed a tear when we lost Ruth Rendell."
As did I upon the death of Ellis Peters. No more Brother Cadfael. I was crushed. It was as if I had lost a dear friend.
That how I felt when I'd found out that Anne McCaffrey had died in 2011, while writing the...true...last book to the Dragonriders of Pern series, that would have followed The Skies of Pern.
Janice wrote: "That how I felt when I'd found out that Anne McCaffrey had died in 2011, while writing the...true...last book to the Dragonriders of Pern series, that would have followed The Skies of Pern."Don't give up on Pern. In my opinion, McCaffrey's son Todd is doing a creditable job of continuing the series.
Very true. I have found his books rather darker -- and rather depressing--but he is a very good writer. I just hope that his next Pern novels will have a...happier note...through out. After all, I can read about dead dragons and/or dead riders --as well as dead fire lizards and/or humans-- to sicknesses...so many times. The 9th Pass novels are still my favorite of the Pern series. I first read some of them back in the 1980s.
I wish I had book shelves, I have to keep my books in banker's boxes (which have a lawn and leaf bag in it which the books get place in so they do not get wet if the basement decides to flood). I had packed the boxes (had books covering the basement floor while I was sorting them), made a list of what books were in the boxes, the proceeded to pull out various books to read. Trouble was I would start reading and decide I wanted a different book - a specific book, so I would go back to the boxes.But then I would get sidetracked looking for a specific book and decide that several of the ones I pulled out looked good - and I should just keep looking for the book I was looking for in the first place - darn now I forgot what I was looking for. But I have pulled out 5 books.
I have done this so many times that the lists do not match the books in each box.
And I never read in the bathtub. But I do read while eating. Some books have spaghetti stains on them.
JoAnn wrote: "I wish I had book shelves, I have to keep my books in banker's boxes (which have a lawn and leaf bag in it which the books get place in so they do not get wet if the basement decides to flood). I h..."Oh yeah, if I lend out a book I make a list with the person's name and when I lent them the book. Give then a week or so and 'remind' them that they have my book. And they better not get food stains on it, only I can do that.
I like different types books from my wife and her/my family. #21 to me is how to politely acknowledge someone who is recommending a book that you won't like (from experience) e.g. period fiction, when I like contemporary non-fiction/fiction. I barely have enough time to read those books already started or on my list. In fairness though I love it when someone does recommend a book that is left-field and a bit out of the ordinary too! Having moved I miss an old bookshop that always had a nice curated section for recommendations to stumble upon.
JoAnn wrote: "I wish I had book shelves, I have to keep my books in banker's boxes (which have a lawn and leaf bag in it which the books get place in so they do not get wet if the basement decides to flood). I h..."I have book shelves and no threat of flooding but I have a dog who likes to chew on old books and only old books. She starts on the binding - it must be the scent of old glue that attracts her. Eventually, it's a feeding frenzy and the other dog joins in. It only happens when we're gone and it's a recent phenomenon. So they have lost their free reign in the house. Locked in the back room when we're away.
I've suffered from all of those...and plan on continuing to!
All of the above, plus having to wait until hubby was at sea to buy another bookcase. He may not have noticed a few books being sneaked into the house, but bookcase construction is hard to hide! I could, however, rearrange the furniture so that he wasn't aware of the increase in bookcases. I think he may have eventually caught on, though, as he one day came home with a card catalog from a base library that was closing. BEST GIFT EVER!!
Isabell wrote: "When you're torn between attending an event or stay at home to finish your book."Or going to event and realizing you wish you were home reading your book,
Noreen wrote: "Isabell wrote: "When you're torn between attending an event or stay at home to finish your book."Or going to event and realizing you wish you were home reading your book,"
If half the people in the event have their noses in their electronic devices, I am not embarrassed to pull out my current paperback.
Souhaila wrote: "being obliged to continue reading a book even though it bores you to death but not being able to stop because you HAVE to finish every book!"This was me. Now kindle offers generous samples. If the sample doesn't grab me I don't buy the book. Somehow I feel as if I haven't really committed myself to the book if I've only read the sample. Kind of like rejecting it after reading the inside of the dust jacket.
This is my #1 irritation when reading a book.