A Loose Woman

I'm putting my foot down.

On what, you ask? On my chronic book purchasing.

First it was just your normal bookstore obsession. Then I became obsessed with buying uber-cheap books from the thrift shop. Then the thrift shop moved to a bigger location which is not anywhere near the train station, which was the only reason I started going there in the first place.  It was so convenient to pop in there and kill time if I missed my bus home.  So what if while killing time I could also score a half dozen books for less than $4.00? But the fun ended back in September when they had the audacity to move away.

Tears were shed upon this discovery.

Now I'm back to the bookstore obsession. But after buying a couple of books with Christmas gift cards, it occurred to me:

I have so many partially-read books it's not even funny.  Like, a lot of them.

When did this happen? When did I start picking up and reading books that I supersupersuper wanted...only until the next book I supersupersuper want came along? When did I become so loose with my affections?

And that's just it.  When it comes to books, I am a loose woman.

From what I can tell, I have at least 6 partials, including a biography of Benjamin Franklin, Team of Rivals about Lincoln and his cabinet, a book on the Johnstown Flood, a book on the Civil War and its beginnings and World Without End, the sequel to Pillars of the Earth.  There are also two Terry Pratchett books which Rob bought recently and probably a few other books that my father-in-law gave me a couple years back when he was cleaning out his own collection.  Except for the one on the flood, the other partials in my collection are all pretty big books.  Pretty DARN big, actually.  And they all deserve my love.  I should see our relationship through.

I have seen the light.  I am ready to give up my loose and wanton ways.

Therefore, in 2010 I am going to make it a point to finish reading all of my partially-read books before I buy any new ones.  I should be a busy girl for a long time!