When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food.
- Desiderius Erasmus

While that doesn’t describe me completely as I’m aware you need more than books to survive, it is pretty close. It’s a subject that’s been closely scrutinised by myself and some friends and we’ve considered starting a bookaholics anonymous. I thought very carefully about this for at least five seconds, then did some research and decided I’m a lost cause. I might still consider starting an organisation but couldn’t even contemplate actually trying not to read and not to buy books, it’s just too hard. One day I’ll have to stop selling books for a living and I can’t begin to picture how I would get rid of the remaining stock. I’ve got places to send it, there’s friends I could give them to, or op shops or other places or maybe I could put some through Book Crossing, but the mental picture is not there yet.

So, we were comparing books and the amount we have stored and I seem to have the least of them. Some people have one or more storage lockers and I’m guessing there’s probably 10,000 in each locker, I should ask them to estimate it and get back to you. I’ve only got about 3,000 and I’m trying to downsize by dropping various genres, I’ve decided I’ll only stock books I can read and possibly recommend so that puts out romance and chick lit and while I love children’s picture books I don’t have the skill necessary to recommend them properly. So, I have several boxes that are going to be put out at the next garage sale, if you’re wanting to get in early email or tweet me or even leave a message here and ask me about particular authors, I’ll look for you and we can start a dialogue. I do have a few boxes of absolutely gorgeous children’s books, some of them are in almost brand new condition and would make fabulous presents.

So, back to the Anonymous bit. If I were to create a group for Bookaholics, it would be to compare collections or stock and to commiserate on missing out on some fabulous books at the last book fair cos there was some greedy person hogging the table. It would be to swap books and also if we’d sold a book and couldn’t find it we would help out if we were able. I suspect it would have to be online as we’re such a diverse group.

And, anyway, is there such a thing as too many books for a Bookaholic? If it’s a fire hazard, then yes, otherwise…absolutely not.