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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 201-250 of 922 (922 new)
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. :("
In the Middle Ages there was a special stamp on sale, which showed a fist and a short verse beneath it:
Here's my book
and here's my fist;
You don't return it,
I clobber you, beast!
Getting stuck reading these comments for like an hour, lol
Princess Lauren wrote: "When people ask "what are you reading" and then try and grab your books."Yup, that'll get your hand slapped HARD.
Mwanamali wrote: "Trying to keep the book dry while reading in the bath." Patricia BolandFAVOURITE"
Story of my life
All of these fit me. A few more...Going into a used book sale just to "look and see what they got" and come out with two boxes and three bags worth of books for your already overflowing bookshelves.
I suffer from Reasons 4, 5, 7, 15, 20... every day
I have to say I agree with All the abovebut I have dropped like millions of books in the bath wile reading them. That one is the worst
Taryn wrote: "My dilemma is closer to when I can't find a place to stop reading... and it's 6:00am, I have been binge reading a series, and I have a test that day that I should have been studying for."YES!! Thankfully it's only been till around 4am so I actually do get some sleep.
Here are the ones I love the most-- get to the can't stop reading point at some horribly inopportune moment like 3 a.m. or the doctor will see you now-- the hand getting cold out of the covers (hahaha) (so many times) -- The book hangover! genius description.My additions:
- Cat thinks book is "hide and paw around" obstacle wall.
- The phone rings, and you must answer. The person actually tries to talk to you. Because your brain is still deep in book, not only is the conversation massively awkward, but you cannot even begin to try to find a way to tactfully sign off. So you sit there like a prisoner, half listening, sneaking a read of a sentence in here and there, casting longing glances at the pages, having zero idea what the person is talking to you about...
FINALLY, someone mentions number 8! And switching hands once in awhile felt so GOOD, because it could warm up!
David wrote: "When someone asks, "What are you reading now?" and you wonder which of the three books to tell them about.Or, you tell them about all three, and watch their eyes glaze over..."
I feel this one so much! What do you classify as a book? And what do you classify as reading now? If you are asking how many books I am currently in the middle of and reading at least a page or so a month (because some are serialized once a month)....I dunno...19? If you mean ones that I am reading every day? uh...8?
Christine wrote: "As a teacher: papers to grade. . . .book. . . .papers to grade. . . book. So painful!"I feel your pain so much right now.
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!"It took me 3 decades to finally get over that problem...mostly...
Thank you for this list. I got a good chuckle out of many of them while realizing they could be talking about me. I have probably had each and every one of these "problems" over the past 50+ years - and I am proud to say, I wouldn't change a one of them if I could. My three children are constantly trying to convince me to use one of these new-fangled "e-readers" instead of carting so many books to and from the local libraries. They don't seem to understand that, for an avid reader such as myself, that would eradicate some of the more subtle joys of reading the book itself - the feel of the solid item in my hands, the smell of the print, the knowledge others have held this book and enjoyed it as I currently am - and how hard that is to give up. Yes I have had to give away books by the boxes over the years to make room for yet more I just HAVE to buy because I will and often do read them over and over again in years to follow. Someday my arthritis will make it so I have no choice but to agree to using an e-book rather than the real thing, but I hope that is long long long from now because, now at 60, I still am not ready to make that sacrifice. And on that note, I must now sign-off because I am itching to start a new series and new author and can't prolong it one moment longer. Happy Reading!!
Beth wrote: "Knowing something bad is going to happen to your favorite character(s), so you close the book so you don't have to experience it with them, and then leave the book unfinished for a long time becaus..."I do that with a book that I am almost finished with and can't bear to leave behind. If I close it then it's not over!
Rouan wrote: "A major problem is when your TBR pile is out of control and you want something to read but nothing you have on hand appeals to you."Also true, and you wander around half-depressed until you discover a here-to-fore unread short story of a favorite author in some obscure anthology that nobody has.
Selena wrote: "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."Donate the extra copy to your local library so other people can appreciate it, or to a hospital or nursing home.
About 40 years ago, I donated 27 boxes of books which had been gathering dust in my basement, 888 books altogether, to a book drive sponsored by my church. I had vague ideas about re-reading some of them, but after a certain point, realization sets in ... "Well, that's not going to happen."
David wrote: "When someone asks, "What are you reading now?" and you wonder which of the three books to tell them about.Or, you tell them about all three, and watch their eyes glaze over..."
Yes. Always. I talk people death. "You asked for it," I say. "Here it is."
Cassandra wrote: "falling in love with fictional characters..."Yes! I can't count how many Pride & Prejudice fan-fiction books I've read because I can't get enough of Darcy and Elizabeth!
☆☽ Ruth ☆☽ wrote: "Buying a Kindle because there just isn't enough luggage allowance on aircraft to accommodate all the books I want to take!!"First time I came to Japan, before ebooks, was a seven week trip, I packed one suitcase of books, just books, and finished them all in the first four weeks...Thank God for the kindle.
Delta wrote: "Checking out a library book and realize I've already read it. Thankfully I've checked out a few others."Goodreads has solved that problem for me.
One of my pet peeves growing up was not being allowed my own library card because I was too young and had to SHARE my mother's. That's so limiting! Only 20 books between the two of us?!Another was, once I got my own library card, going once a week and returning 20 books and checking out 20 more books to hold me over for the next week and the librarian telling me "These books are too advanced for you, you can't have them." (LOTR age 9)
Thank God for my mother going to the bat for me and letting them know that I could read whatever I wanted.
I would also like to add people asking about your favourite books, and then reading them and then giving you a hard time because you liked it and they didn't. We read romance for a reason, it's fictional, and an escape and usually has a happy ending.
Being recommended a book by goodreads but being unable to obtain it to read
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!" AbsolutelyDina wrote: "I don't mind movie covers. I get almost all of my books second hand, so I actually tend to go for the movie tie-ins more often, because being newer editions they are usually in better condition."
Linda wrote: "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 R..."Pegasus! I know!!!! Argh! I am still holding out for a sequel to Sunshine.
I wear fingerless gloves when its too cold...keeps your hands warm if not fingertips lol
Andrea wrote: "When publisher switches cover design half through the series... I can't even. They must all match!!"How about when they change the cover design so it looks like a new addition to the series and you end up buying the same book twice?
All of the above, plus that moment when all the books you put on hold at the library strategically (so you thought), are all ready for pick-up at the same time, while you are already in the middle of a book at home ...happens way too often, it's like the library is conspiring against 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!" Omg so true. The only book I have ever not finished was Mody Dick. The most dull and boring book I just couldn't continue. I pushed for so long but I had so many other things I actually wanted to read. Such a disappointment.
Natasha wrote: "Being in love with fictional characters..."YES! I've got so many...
Please help me find a book I loved. German? Family separated by war, many years later, in a different city, the restaurant is owned by one of the children and the mother comes in and they realize they are related, they go home to show her something
Sandi wrote: "Being recommended a book by goodreads but being unable to obtain it to read"Yes! It's happened to me like four times!
In response to several of these problems, there is only one answer."I don't have a book problem, I just need a bigger house."
Countless times have I worried that my frostbitten hand may not ever regain it's natural warmth. #worthit
Problem #562: It's 4am and I'm still reading but I'll be "ok" without sleep!
When someone borrows your book and doesn't return it for ages!!!! Aaaaaaaaargh
Thomas wrote: "Problem #562: It's 4am and I'm still reading but I'll be "ok" without sleep!"Sleep is for the weak
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 have a friend who barely opens books she borrows from me while reading them, because she know's how important an intact spine is to me. She's the best.
People who insist you're not a real reader because you use e-books. -__-"
I too suffer from most of the above (I haven't read in the bath yet simply because I AM concerned with the book getting wet; I need to invest in one of those neat little bath shelves). Smacking myself in the face with a book while reading in bed happens a LOT, not surprisingly. Something to add though, back when I was in middle school, I would stay up much later than I should on school nights reading Harry Potter with a flashlight. When I would wake in the morning, the book would be on the floor and the flashlight would be dead. Quite a few times I was late for school because I overslept.
Linda wrote: "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 R..."I know! My heart goes out to Ms. McKinley for all that life's been throwing at her lately, and I feel like a terrible person for having such a hard time waiting >>
But MAN, that cliffhanger!
meghann wrote: I have a friend who barely opens books she borrows from me while reading them, because she know's how important an intact spine is to me. She's the best. My mum does the same with books coz I made her replace them when she cracked the spine.
Christine wrote: "As a teacher: papers to grade. . . .book. . . .papers to grade. . . book. So painful!"I feel you. I'm a teacher too :D
I KNOW RIGHT!! Or when they only have one copy of the first book and like three of the second, I'm just like what?!?