Bookish Musings - The Problems With Loving Books

Bookish Musings is a feature here at Beautiful Bookish Butterflies that allows one of us to share our thoughts and opinions, talk and discuss things happening in the book and blogging community or share a personal book related issue we have. Today, Amanda is talking about loving books and just how it's such a strain on life, on money and just everything. It's like a full-time job, you just need to commit, and that's an issue sometimes. But how is it an issue? Find out..

I loooooove books. We all do, that's why we started book blogs, so we could share our love for books, find out about new and upcoming books and force blackmail encourage other people to read those books, but there are negatives to this wonderful love and hobby and that's what we're talking about today.

I think from a very young age I enjoyed books. I had quite a collection of childrens series, Animals in the Ark, Horrible Histories, that kind of thing, gore and cute kitties, that was me - I even owned a complete encyclopedia collection, which I still own to this day and it looks absolutely gorgeous still, Hardcover, blues, *melts into puddle*, so it's fair to say, books we're a part of me when I was younger. Not having friends who shared this love was fine by me at that time in my life, they liked games, I liked books, they liked going out, I liked staying in. Scratch that, I actually didn't have very many friends full stop, I think I had maybe one that I shared and even she didn't like reading, so I was a loner essentially. Fast forward to the now and I'm still the same. I may have gone off reading for a little while, but I have a collection of books again, I read an awful lot and have no friends that I see who I can share this love with. I have grown up to be a book lover with no book loving friends. The problem? I can't fangirl with these people, I can't talk about a book and how fantastic it was without feeling like I'm boring people, I can't share my love for something so wonderful with these people because they just don't understand. 'It's just a book', 'you can wait for the sequel, don't be a drama queen', 'why would people be assed about your thoughts, if it's a best seller, that's all that matters' and on and on it goes. These are the phrases I battle with everyday. They are good friends, great, fantastic, they support and love me no matter what, but understand and share my love, no.


I also live at home with Mum. I'm unemployed, searching for a job and we have to budget every moment of our lives, making sure we have enough money each week for us to go the job centre, so buying books isn't really on the radar anymore. So what happens when I fall in love with that upcoming release and don't get an ARC, then have to wait for the release date and still can't get it? I cry, that's what. Well, maybe not cry, but I am sure as hell pretty sad about it. Everyone's got that shiny new Hardcover, 'it looks so pretty' and 'feels so good', 'it's got a shiny cover' and 'smells like god' - yeah yeah, I hear you, STOP RUBBING THAT BOOK IN MY FACE ON INSTAGRAM PEOPLE. I am a jealous reader, I want what other people have. I want the books. All of the books. Many, many books. Cut down those trees, make them into books and bring me them on a platter, I want I want I want. Man, I sound like a spoilt brat, but those are the thoughts that run through my head, on the outside, I'm pretty calm and collected about not having that book. I'll get it, one day..


Eh, Christmas is coming up, how planned out are you? Are you wondering what to buy me, oh you shouldn't really, honestly, you mustn't- BOOKS! Why is this so difficult to understand, why must family and friends genuinely feel the need to ask me 'what would you like?' when the answer stares them in the face? I like books. I read books. I like to own books. I talk about books. I review books. I have discussions about books. Books, Books, BOOKS. Come on, really, are you that stupid? Okay, so, good example, the best friend this time last year asked me 'what do you want for Christmas?' Like, she genuinely came out and asked me that, on my bed, in my room, surrounded by books. I said 'why not get me a book?' What did she do? 'Oh yeah, never thought of that..' I'm sorry, WHAT?! How can you not think to buy the thing I love most in life? Don't get me that mug and coaster set, I already own around 5. Don't buy me socks unless they're snazzy with special grips on the bottom. Buy me a book, or a book voucher, or token, or take me book shopping, it's easy as that. Yet nobody thinks of these things..


Yet, even when I do have money for new books, or when people do actually gift me them, I find myself with another problem, where the hell do I put them? Excuse me bedroom, could you possibly, I don't know, grow a little, get a little wider so I can put more bookshelves in you please? Actually, forget that, I can't afford bookshelves, I'll just have to stack the new books, but they'll get damaged if I just leave them out in stacks on my floor, what about the cold, what about the insects that might crawl in them, what about- MY POOR BOOKS. That's right, I am in a constant state of 'ohmygod need to sort more room on my shelves' because I don't have room for books. I need to move books from one place to another, I now stack them on the shelves rather than like you'd see in places like Waterstones and WHSmith and my room won't grow, how rude. I currently have to have library books in stacks on the floor because I have no room, but their library books, that's okay, they've already been mutilated by other people, my cold floor isn't going to kill them, but my books, no, I need room for them, they need shelf space, and I don't have it. *panics* *cries*


Have you ever kind of , cancelled your plans with somebody to read? If not, you are a well made human being, but me? No, I cancelled on my best friend once to read Dying of the Light. It was the finale book in the Skulduggery series, I was already a day late in receiving it, I needed that book. She didn't understand, she doesn't like books, but me, I had no choice, it was either see her and delay another day or cancel and read the book in one night. I was a bad human being and I'll forever be judged by those actions but OH MY GOD it was worth it, all the worth, so much worth. Loving books means that I slowly end up losing my social life, not that I'm that social anyway, but for books like that, it's worth it, but what about when more of those books along and start finishing, can I just start ditch people in favour of reading. Look, if my friends understood my love for books, they'd forgive me, so it all comes full circle back to how they should just read and share my love, right?


I don't actually know what the point of this post was exactly. Maybe I was just letting off steam, maybe I was just ranting because of the place I'm in right now, but seriously, these are all important issues, very important issues and people just don't understand. Nobody can understand the pain a book lover has when they're poor and can't buy books. Nobody can understand how difficult it is to want to talk about something that nobody else is interested in other than book lovers. We all suffer these problems, and if you don't, well lucky you.

Do you suffer any of these problems? Do you have friends who don't understand or not enough room for new books? Do you think I'm being a little, over dramatic, or do you 100% agree with me? Leave your thoughts down below.