Being a Bibliophile

There was a time in office when we had very little work to do and a lot of free time. All my colleagues chose different ways of handling the free time โ€“ at one point, they were playing cricket with a book and a ball made out of foil paper โ€“ and I chose to read books. And since I was really into the series I was reading at the time, I would have a new book in my hand every other day. Impressed and confused with my prowess, I quickly earned the epithet โ€˜Bibliomaniacโ€™ and I was rather proud of it!

But when you finish 16 books in 3 months (achievement unlocked) there is always the question โ€“ do you skip pages when you read? For once and for all, I DO NOT skip pages. However, if a book forces me to, then, respectfully, itโ€™s the writerโ€™s fault and not mine.

I started reading young and had a very obliging mother, an indulgent father, and an exasperated little sister to never resort to trickery or hiding books behind textbooks to continue reading. In fact, it has been my tradition to read and finish at least one book before my exams. While my friends had to suffer books being torn by angry fathers, concerned mothers locking up books during exams, I could very easily read without fear of retribution.

Now my book mania has come to such a level where if I am in the middle of a juicy book, I forget my other two favourite things to do โ€“ eating and sleeping (basically I am just a toddler who can read). It is quite distressing for someone like me to realize that I could (potentially) forgo food in the interest of finishing a book but then when you are a book lover, it is a fulltime job.

From asking my mother for permission to read certain questionable books to now recommending books to her, it has been a surreal experience. So know if I have a book (and recently, a Kindle) in my hand, I have full plans of ignoring you in favour of the written word and no, you may not disturb me.

e1241846e058aa2cf4972e83f3d6732d

14 responses to “Being a Bibliophile”

  1. This is what I do too. I used to finish at least one book during exam times because that’s the best way to beat the stress! I’m also a bibliomaniac and I found this post so relatable! People ask me whether I skip pages too. ๐Ÿ˜€

    Like

    1. Well hello fellow bibliomaniac!

      Like

  2. I agree with your point wholeheartedly.
    Having been raised as a book reader, I regret the time when I couldn’t read due to work pressures. Had I been reading, I may have handled those stressful years better. But I more than make up for it now ๐Ÿ™‚

    Like

    1. I’m glad I have the type of work that requires me to be a good reader

      Liked by 1 person

  3. That’s a cool quote from The History Boys. I’d never heard it before, but I can relate to it.

    Elmore Leonard, in one of his rules for writers, said “try to leave out the parts people skip over.” So true, so true. If we can only figure out which parts those are!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I think a good starting place would be to skip the parts you don’t like to read yourself.

      Like

  4. Tina Basu Avatar
    Tina Basu

    Sometimesi do skip pages then have to keep going back because i didnt want to miss what happened in between – story of my life!

    Like

    1. Haha. Don’t skip pages then ๐Ÿ˜›

      Like

  5. Avid reader you are and good collections of books
    thanks for sharing ๐Ÿ™‚ Bloom up Your Motherhood โ€“ What to expect during the First trimester of Pregnancy

    Like

  6. Skipping pages haha ! This reminds me of high school when we had to finish our review and people used to skip pages just to finish it off ๐Ÿ˜‚

    Like

    1. Well thankfully we had too important things to read – like Shakespeare – for our teacher to force us to read anything else.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. I agree Suchita, if u skip pages, it’s the writer who said be blamed. Similarly, if you re-read a line/ para coz to devour the feeling, it is also an author’s accomplishment. Lovely post…

    Like

    1. Oh that’s a lovely thought. Agreed! And thank you.

      Like

Leave a reply to deepaliadhikary Cancel reply