Libraries and bookstores are time vampires

Once a week a go to the library. I know, how cool, right? Yeah well, don't be too impressed because I'm usually accompanying my guys as they swap out last week's dvd's for a new stash. I manage to take out one or two or five books to read and Little Man and I take out a book to read at bedtime.

The last few times I've been going alone because Bill's work schedule doesn't allow for Sunday trips to the library and Chris is far more invested in Minecraft. This suits me fine because I can wander about looking for something to read without feeling rushed. Therein lies the seduction.

You see the library is a time vampire that sucks the hours from your day. It beckons with its shiny shelves of endless books. Come in, come in, it whispers. So you enter all innocently because you just want to return these few items and take out a couple of new books and movies. And before you know it the entire day is gone and you emerge into darkness hours later dazed and wondering, where has all the time gone?

Going into a bookstore is the same way. It's like a giant vortex that sucks up your time and holds you prisoner, unable to leave as you walk up and down aisles looking at books you want to buy and read. Their covers lure you toward them. Authors you've read before seem to whisper, come read my newest book. And so you flit like a hummingbird from one shelf to another, one section to the next, picking up this book because the cover is so attractive or that one because the title calls to you. You turn it over and read a description of the story and it sounds so intriguing that before you know it you've opened the first page and begun to read and you start to shift from one foot to the other because your leg is starting to fall asleep and finally you stop yourself because now you simply have to find out what happens next but you want to be in the comfort of your own home so you grab the book and head to the register but then you spy another favorite author who has a new book out featuring a sexy guy sharing the cover with a suggestive title and you have that long weekend coming up that would be perfect for reading this trashy little novel so you grab that as well. It's a never-ending nightmare.

No, actually a nightmare is going into a bookstore with a certain amount of spending money (or none at all) and seeing 247 different books that you want to read/need to read/had been meaning to read. And you can't buy any of them! Because you came in there to pick up something for your friend's birthday. I don't know about you but I can always find something for myself, be it books or clothes, when I am out shopping for someone else. However, when I have money and go shopping for myself? Nothing. I could win the lottery tomorrow and not find a stitch of clothing to wear. Books I could purchase by the truckload.  I'd be the first naked millionaire with more books than I had the time to read.

I used to read one book at a time but I have evolved and now I read several books at a time. This says more about my impatience than it says about how well-read I am. Here's what I am reading now:

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. A big shout out and thank you to Bre over at Peacoats and Plaid for writing about her love of this book.

Bad Girls Go Everywhere: Wisdom, Humor and Inspiration from Women with Attitude by Kathryn and Ross Petras. It's a collection of quotes and anecdotes by famous women.

Secret Sins by Lora Leigh. The obligatory trashy novel.

I confess, I already started "The Happiness Project" and finished "Bad Girls Go Everywhere".  Later I'll start on "Secret Sins". Who said the time-sucking ended once you left the library or bookstore?