It’s hard to be a person whose number one hobby is reading. So many people just don’t understand the joy that comes from ignoring the rest of the world and curling up with a great book. Or the way a book can just suck you in and spit you out a different person from who you were before you read “Chapter One.” Keep reading for our list of common bookworm problems you’ve probably encountered:
1. You have book hangovers.
You know when you read a really good book, and for hours after that are still not over it, to the point where one part (or the whole) of your brain is still focused on what went on in the novel rather than what you’re supposed to be working on or concentrating on? Like maybe work or school or whatever your parents or your boyfriend is talking to you about? But you just can’t? Yeah, those book hangovers.
2. People in books are more awesome than in real life. Especially men.
Book boyfriends are a thing. And the truth is that no real life man could ever hold a candle to your book boyfriend, who lives in your heart forever—as well as on the pages of that book you reread once a year just to remember how gorgeous/sweet/hot he is. Beyond that, you have book characters you identify with more than you do with your real-life friends, family, and colleagues.
3. You want fantasy places you read about to be real. And you desperately want to go there.
As in, if you were ever in a train station and saw a landing marked 9 3/4, you would totally take a running jump into the nearest post. Even if at some part of the back of your mind, you know this could result in serious body injury, not to mention major embarrassment. Because there’s also a part of you that hopes you’ll end up standing in front of the Hogwarts Express.
4. There are books you can’t read in public for fear of embarrassing emotional responses.
No, we’re not just talking about sexy reads and mommy porn. But that’s one thing. We’re talking about the books that have you crying your eyes out or giggling like a loon. Sometimes it’s just so hard to keep a straight face, even when you know that you’re on a bus or the train and people will look at you like you’re crazy.
5. When you are walking while reading, is it really too much to expect for people and things to just get out of your way?
Because obviously there are more important things than watching where you’re going. Like finding out what happens to the heroine who’s been trapped in a tower. Or discovering who committed murder and how.
6. You love that ebooks mean you get to read something the day it comes out—but you miss that new book smell.
Because everyone knows that when you get a new book the first thing you absolutely must do is open it up to a random page and take a good sniff. It’s just not the same with ereaders. You love the convenience, but you miss the sensory input.
7. You lose sleep because you keep telling yourself, “Just one more page/scene/chapter…”
And you try to think of ways to explain that book hangovers are real and should be considered as a valid reason to take a sick day off work.
8. You get in trouble for reading when people expect you to be doing other things.
Like working. Or studying. Or bathing. Because the truth is that the worlds and lives you discover in books are just so much more interesting than your own. In fact, sometimes something will happen that will remind you of a scene in a book, then you’ll search for that book to reread that scene… and you end up rereading the whole book.
9. You can and have spent money on books that you should have spent on food or other “necessary” things.
Really, do you need that meal more than you need to know what happens in the next installment of your favorite book series? I don’t think so. And who cares if you’re late paying your bills? There’s a new book by your favorite author out!
10. Your biggest lament about Philippine government and infrastructure is the lack of public libraries.
Can you imagine just going to a place that’s all about books? And you can stay there and just read? And you can borrow those books for free and for as many times as you’d like?
11. Fellow book lovers are the only ones able to understand how emotionally invested you get in your fave reads.
You know how this goes. When you finish a book and you have to talk about it but no one in your circle of friends has read it or even wants to read it, so you have to go out and find other people to talk to because there’s just so. Much. Feels. Yeah, exactly.
12. When people say you have to get a life outside of reading, your response is:
Got a bookish friend who can relate? Share this with them!