See that? That's our bedroom. Notice that tall bookshelf in the corner. Looks like just an ordinary bookshelf, but upon closer inspection you will see something peculiar about it....
Did you see it? Notice all those little white tags on the spines of each book? Yes, that's right, those are all library books. Rob is obsessed. This bookcase has six shelves, and the top four are filled to capacity with library books. Plus he has a few others strewn throughout the house. I counted 62 books total. 62! That is an insane amount of books to have checked out from the library at one time. He's addicted. In his own words, he is "a hoarder who eventually returns his hoard." Sounds healthy doesn't it.
When asked about this book collecting habit he replied, "It's a good thing I don't buy 62 books at a time instead of checking them out from the library!" -- well that's true, but I previously failed to mention that he does own quite a few books already; there is a large pile of boxes stacked full of books in the basement that once occupied those upper four shelves before the library books took over.
Rob would like it mentioned that this collection of checked-out books comes from two different libraries, his university library and the city library. I don't know how that helps matters any, but Rob seems to think it does.
I just don't now how he can manage to read and retain information from so many books at the same time! But he told me some of them are just for reference for a particular school assignment or work project. Others he actually reads from cover to cover. But still, that's a lot of information to try and capture simultaneously! Looks like he needs some of that NZT from the movie Limitless (which, coincidentally, is based on a book that Rob has read and loved). Then he would be an unstoppable superpower with all the knowledge he gets from his mass amounts of reading.
When he found out I was writing a blog post about his book hoarding, Rob commented, "All your friends are going to think I'm weird now." So was he right? It's time to weigh in: Weird? Cool? Other? Let's hear your thoughts.
p.s. We did see Limitless last night, and it was good. Go see it so you can wish you had more brain capacity. I know I wish I did!
9 comments:
I think it's awesome! I can totally see myself doing that if I could actually get them back on time! I am such a ditz and dont remember! So as long as he doesn't have a ton of late fees, I think it's quite alright!
I'm sure that Rob has read about this already, but 'weird' is the new 'cool', so he's good to go :).
I heard someone on the radio describe books as trophies. I kinda feel like that about some books- once I conquer it, I just can't let it go. Thus the lugging around of textbooks. Also, I am always reading 4 or 5 books at a time...and I read them very slowly. The say an important indicator of a child's success in school is the presence of at least 50 books in the home. At this rate, Sara will be a genius!
Hmmm. Not sure I say wierd. 62 is a bit much, but whatever. I am married to the man who reads, rapidly about 5 books at once. I too am guilty of "multi-book reading." But he is right, at least he didn't buy them! Not wierd. Educated, interested. Wierd is for people who wear socks with sandals and pants up to their chests, or close talkers.
that's a lot of books! it just makes my back hurt thinking about carrying them!
when will he be done with school?
Becky, he didn't check them all out at once. He will check out a few here and a few more there, but then he renews them online as many times as he can before returning them. And he'll be done with school next month! Wahoo!!
Lori, luckily he is pretty good about keeping on top of the due dates, so no ginormous late fees!
Amber & Gretch, I sure hope so!!
Oh, and K, your comment about "close talkers" literally made me LOL. :)
Your bedroom looks like it's out of a magazine. I really like it. We've been married almost 7 years, but we still don't have a headboard. Maybe some day. :)
Hey, guess what? We're moving to Boise in June. So we should hang out again before me leave.
Ha Ha Ha! That is so funny. And yes, totally weird! But like the others said, not a bad weird. You guys always seem to know random facts about everything. Now I know why!
Wow, what a relief! I am not alone. . . like brother like sister I guess. I have had 90 books checked out at one time, right now I have 69! I consider keeping track of library due-dates as one of my part-time jobs.
I will also never forget my Librarian Uncle's face when I admitted to him my habit of checking out so many books as once--I have a feeling he is glad that none of us live in his county.
Keep up the great reading Rob and don't tell Uncle Cornel:)
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