Top Ten Tuesday #28 - Top Ten Bookish Problems I Have


This lovely meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

Now, being a reader is wonderful, glorious thing and we bookish people often have a happy, peaceful time being a book-lover but then we come across certain things and we realise that sometimes we do encounter some bothersome problems.

1. No space.
I'm not joking when I say the whole of one corner of my smallish bedroom is filled with books. Books that are stacked extremely high. Books where there are too many to sit on a shelf but have to be piled on the floor (neatly, of course). I've, sadly, cut down on my book-buying but I don't know where I'll be putting any future books I get.

2. Having to be incredibly careful when browsing social media, in case one happens upon spoilers.
I'm pretty sure we've all been there at some stage in our life. We're innocently reading some reviews, innocently looking at GIFs, innocently scrolling through Instagram, innocently reading a tweet and then BAM! 


You've seen a spoiler.


And you try to unsee it.


But it annoyingly stays in your head and even when you shut your eyes, you can still see the dreadful image or text before you.


It's a hard life, I tell ya. 

3. Being emotionally destroyed when you finish a particularly good book or worse, a particularly good series.
There have been more times than I could possibly count, where I've finished a book, inhaled deeply, crawled into a fetal position and cried for several hours. One then trudges downstairs in a melancholy manner and is greeted by concerned looks from family members. The former then ambles to the kitchen, needing ice cream, chocolate, something that might alleviate the pain. The latter asks "What's the matter?" and then they wish they hadn't asked because you will turn to them, spoon in one hand, ice cream tub in the other and you will tell them what exactly is the matter. Someone betrayed your favorite character, said character died, your favorite ship sunk, your OTP is a mess. And first they will be confused, then they'll realise you're talking about a book and will try to console you with the dreaded saying that "It's just a book" and you will glare and retreat back to your sanctuary and mutter that the Muggles don't understand.


4. Accepting the fact that you'll be forever alone, as no one could possibly compare to your book-boyfriend(s).
It's a fact universally acknowledged (ha. Literary reference.) that 99.9% of the time, real boys won't even come near to the likes of Will Herondale, Augustus Waters, Percy Jackson and all the rest that we've fallen in love with. They don't read, they don't profess over-the-top declarations of love in a manner that isn't cheesy, they aren't as sweet, sensitive or funny. Upon meeting a real boy and engaging in conversation we will generally accept that yes, the rest of our romantic lives shall be spent with fictional characters.


5. People asking you if they can loan books from your impressive home library.
I get this question a lot and instead of saying "I'm really sorry but I don't loan books unless it's too close friends and sometimes I don't even loan books to them as, ya know, people aren't careful." I say "Well...um..." and they look at you like:

And then you start feeling really bad and instead of insisting you say, "Maybe!" and then avoid conversation with them for a few months until they forget. Or maybe that's just me, I don't know.


6. Wanting matching books on my shelf.
UGH. This is so frustrating. All the books in your favorite series are sitting nicely and evenly on your bookshelf and then the final book comes out and...it's big. It's huge. IT'S NOT THE SAME SIZE. And you just sit there and stare and inwardly have a mental breakdown.



7. Never, ever knowing what book to read next.
I swear, this is always one of the hardest decisions in my life. I have a TBR pile of like...I don't know how many books, but it's embarrassingly big. After finishing my current book, I'll hug said book (or throw it down in frustration, depends on the book) and then the realisation will dawn on me that I need to choose my next read and I'll inwardly wince because it's a loonnggggg and arduous process of deciding what to read next. I'll start looking at release dates (if I need to read an arc next) or look at weather currently (I'm one of those readers that likes reading contemporary books on summery days, fantasy on rainy days etc, it sets the mood) or see which library books have to be in first, but it generally takes me awhile to choose.

8. Having to decide between books at a bookstore or a library.
I had to choose between books last week. It was a painful, painful moment. I always feel like I'm betraying the poor things and I just want to take them all home with me and snuggle them in blankets and love them. Kind of like with puppies.

9. Often getting distracted because I'm thinking about the current book I'm reading, such as the ship I'm furiously shipping and the wondering of what will happen next in the story.
Today I was doing physics and started thinking about Skulduggery and Valkyrie's friendship and how adorable it is and then I looked a the time and I like "Yep. I'm in deep."

10. Seeing anything or hearing anything and immediately associating it with your fandom.
Like hearing a certain song and thinking how perfectly it describes a certain ship's situation or seeing chocolate cake and realising how Four would totally accompany you in drooling over the edible delicacy. It's at these times you wonder if you're actually sane and you realise you are and that associating everything with your fandoms is one of the wonderful side effects of being a reader.