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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 151-200 of 922 (922 new)
Most of these are right on the money for me. For me, I think the biggest thing is, people who are not book addicts do not understand how I can have so darn many books now and still see another one I want.
Vanessa wrote: "Going to the library and finding out they have the first 2 books in a trilogy but DONT HAVE THE LAST ONE!!!!"Exactly! Once I started trilogy and then I found out there is no third part :-(
Do Your Reading wrote: "My problem is starting too many books at the same time because I'll be in the middle of a good book but find something else that is so much more interesting that I have to start it even before I fi..."same here
Also falling in love with the characters than realizing they are not real and you will never meet them.
I try to limit myself to checking out seven books from the library every three weeks (the local library time limit), but even at that, I've had to renew at least one book a time or two. Unless the books are extremely popular, or have limited copies available, the library allows three renewals, which gives me up to 12 weeks maximum reading time.
I have a problem with bringing too many books from the Library and not being able to finish them all.
Nadiya wrote: "I have a problem with bringing too many books from the Library and not being able to finish them all."me too
Tammy wrote: "My other comment is needing to have all the book covers of your favourite book, resulting in multiple copies of the same book. Also, the book covers in a series need to match, so when they change t..."OMG I thought it was just me that got pissed off at the change in covers ... its so annoying
Felicia wrote: "I have no shame in saying I suffer from all the above-stated problems."same here i feel like secretly we all deal with these
I can identify with most of these . I left school long ago so reading when I should be studying is no longer an issue. I never take a book into the bath room for fear of water damage. I will not purchase a book with the "movie" cover. I ignore that a movie was made of a book I like. I quit loaning books because I was not getting them back and because I was not sure of what kind of a home I was sending my books to . I have one that I have not read on this list. I hate it when you make a new friend and are enjoying them and than you fin out they don't read.
Coughs.Dropping the book you absolute love and aren't finished reading in the bath and having to wait for a day or two to let it dry out before you can continue reading it.
Do Your Reading wrote: "My problem is starting too many books at the same time because I'll be in the middle of a good book but find something else that is so much more interesting that I have to start it even before I fi..."the same happens to me. Among the books I like and the reading groups I can be simultaneously reading up to 11 books
How about when you are eager for the next book in a series to come out and the writer seems to be taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R to produce it? I'm referring specifically to Ebon, the sequel to Pegasus, by Robin McKinley (waiting since 2010), and The Winds of Winter by George R.R. Martin (waiting since 2011). I see G. Norman Lippert is supposed to be coming out with James Potter and the Crimson Thread this month, but I'm not holding my breath.
Felicia wrote: "I have no shame in saying I suffer from all the above-stated problems."Same, no regrets
Felicia wrote: "I have no shame in saying I suffer from all the above-stated problems."ME TOO! ;-). <3
Francesca wrote: "Felicia wrote: "I have no shame in saying I suffer from all the above-stated problems."Same here! Proud member of bookaholics not-so-anonymous. These are all real problems that we suffer from."
We should really start that group! Yahoo groups, maybe?
Peace,
Sherrie
From experience I agree with 8, 11 and 19 also have dropped my Kindle or Tablet on the floor by falling asleep while reading!
More (online and brick & mortar) resources for new books + the New York Times Book section! I only have one pair of eyes!
My favorite problem - finding a library book sale and not having enough bags for my purchases. Head for the car, empty the bag, head back to the sale........
Completely agree... I never want to buy the book if the cover is from the movie and, by the way, number 3 and 8 is 100% me
Princess Lauren wrote: "When people ask "what are you reading" and then try and grab your books."Yeah thats horible...
When people ask "what are you reading" and you need to start a whole conversation, but you just want to finish your book...
thanks god i'm not the only one who suffers all those things and moooore . by the way the thing i hate from my heart falling asleep while reading every time whatever the time is .
All of those are true except maybe #10 and 19. I don't read in the bath (I used to listen to audiobooks, though) and I can't hold a book like that long enough for it to fall on my face. Another book struggle I've faced is nearly ending a friendship because the friend spoiled a book for me.
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 is one my of my habits. I really do try to finish every book I start, even if it's dull. Sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it doesn't. I hate to give up partway. It's happened, but very rarely.
Guilty on most of these! Miss reading till late at night though...
I want to add one more problem:Having accumulated a whole lot of books to read, and then having to pick one out to read next, and not being able to decide because I have so many.
Rouan wrote: "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, they have the last two but not the first one!"
Which is usually due to someone having it so overdue that it had to be deleted.
Anne wrote: "Felicia wrote: "I have no shame in saying I suffer from all the above-stated problems."Me too!"
Francesca wrote: "Felicia wrote: "I have no shame in saying I suffer from all the above-stated problems."
Same here! Proud member of bookaholics not-so-anonymous. These are all real problems that we suffer from."
so true!
Grace wrote: "I want to add one more problem:Having accumulated a whole lot of books to read, and then having to pick one out to read next, and not being able to decide because I have so many."
Yep. I have that problem, too. On top of my bookshelf there's a whole stack waiting for me to read, and now I have to choose my next read.
Okay...first of all: How can you read a book in a bathtub? I'd never do that and not just because I'm clumsy.I'm just happy people around me doesn't have the same taste in books as me. Therefore, I don't have to borrow my books to anyone. Not that I would. I'd probably write terms&conditions if somebody would borrow my precious collection.
I'm glad I'm not alone in this. It's weird to tell people how much you love books when they just simply don't understand.
Stupid, stupid people don't know what they're missing.
I suffer from all these problems and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Sorry not sorry!:)
And i thought it was just me, but no, i feel like I've found my lost tribe.
cindy wrote: "3, 7, 15. Those are my demons.Oh, and 13, when they finally returned it, but with dog ears, food stains or worst, cracked spine. :("
I agree with this one too. I despise when someone does damage to a book. They even write the correct word over a typo...seriously! Also when I wanna get a certain book from my library and it says "Mending".....have respect for books please.
they all sound about right.Thank God or reader and reader apps
When you splurge on a series of books only to have a person spoil the ending to the entire series after seeing the 3rd book in your hand.
Number 2, 5 and 15 define me SOOOOO ACCURATELY
Putting a bunch of books on hold at the library, and because there is no way to know where I am in the queue, they somehow all come in at once and they are all due in two weeks (no renewals allowed). I have them all in my hands -- but I know I won't be able to finish all of them in time!For the ones I don't get to, I will have to go back to the end of the queue again...
One of my problems is related to the first problem in the list. There is something nice in buying one book at a time, finishing it, going back to the same bookshop/library, get another,e tc. But that is a satisfaction i can't have since i rarely rarely get out of a bookshop without buying many books that i will stack with other non-read books because i get more books that i can read.
Do Your Reading wrote: "My problem is starting too many books at the same time because I'll be in the middle of a good book but find something else that is so much more interesting that I have to start it even before I fi..."Gee, I have a collection of thus unfinished books. I also thought I was the only crazy guy for that matter:))
Steven wrote: "Leah wrote: "cindy wrote: "3, 7, 15. Those are my demons.Oh, and 13, when they finally returned it, but with dog ears, food stains or worst, cracked spine. :("
Yesss!! People don't understand that..."
There was a Russian count in the XIX century with a big library, who rarely loaned books, but when he did, he ran immediately in the bookstore to buy a fresh copy of the borrowed book. And slept well:))
Do Your Reading wrote: "My problem is starting too many books at the same time because I'll be in the middle of a good book but find something else that is so much more interesting that I have to start it even before I fi..."This is my problem too!! I'm reading, like, 7 books right now.
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."
Someone needs to invent a waterproof e-reader. Like right now.
Searching the currently available digital library so many times you know all the following books in series, yet you've never seen the first.
Losing a book, getting a new copy and then finding the old one again and not being sure what to do with the two copies.
Holly wrote: "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."
S..."
There's the Kobo Aura H20 that is waterproof!!
My trick for getting work done and finishing a book.
You read 1-2 chapters then, work 15 minutes.
Its the only way I can get school work done and keep up my book blog
Oh and having a PDF of the book helps a lot if someone passes by you simply minimize the page and it looks like your working.
If its a physical book you put it in a folder full of papers
Hope this helps!
Ozzy