Bibliomania

      Hehe. I guess you could pretty much tell by the mere fact that I'm blogging again that I had to take the day off from work. Again. Pfeeeeeeew it stresses me out, just thinking of the backlog. Not to mention the additional stress I've caused my fellow teachers, who had to sub for me. Gaaaaaaaaa.......

      Okay, ranting over.

      I think our family may have a common psychological illness. I think... we may have... bibliomania.

     According to Wikipedia, Bibliomania is "an obsessive-compulsive disorder involving the collecting or hoarding of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged."

      (I don't think we're anti-social because of our love for reading, though it certainly makes us less fearful of being alone. Reading is the cure for any form of loneliness, I believe.)

      We don't often get visitors, but whenever someone goes to our humble abode, the first thing he/she exclaims is, "Ang dami ninyong libro!"

      We're pretty frugal with the way we live our lives, but we sure don't scrimp on our books! We only eat out on special occassions, we do not spend on branded attire nor accessories, and until now I've never set foot inside an airplane and can only boast of travelling as far as Boracay and Baguio.

       To offset my desire for travel, all I have to do is pick up a book. :) And we've got plenty of those at home, thanks to my parents who passed on their love for reading and learning to us.

       Last weekend, Papa and Mama bribed Tata and I into accompanying them on their trip to Bonifacio High Street (aka Serendra) with the words, "We'll pay for your books."

      My oh my. You should have seen the speed with which we dropped our red ballpens and test papers, and how quickly we showered and got dressed. ;) All good intentions of checking and lesson planning evaporated as we excitedly prepared for the half-hour drive that would take us to that haven for bibliophiles/bibliomaniacs in Manila... the flagship store of FULLY BOOKED.

       I was more circumspect in my choices and only got to purchase three books, while the others went wild, literally, and we ended up carting five plastic bags of tomes to our vehicle. As Tata put it, "We shopped for groceries in the bookstore."

      There. My Christmas break to-read pile is sitting by my bedside. :)

 

1. The Portable Hannah Arendt edited by Peter Baehr    

     

      2. The Kingdom of God Is Within You by Leo Tolstoy  (a book which inspired Mohandas Gandhi's principles of non-violent protest)

      3. Selected Poems by Christina Rossetti

      I believe that one can never spend too much on books, nor is it sinful to buy more than one can read in a given length of time. It is alright to have book piles, for sooner or later, you WILL read those books that you bought. It could be next week, or even next year, but eventually you WILL get to read them. :) So go ahead. Splurge on your books.

      This hedonistic viewpoint comes with a caveat, though. I believe that one should put to use all the knowledge and all the ideals that one gets from reading. Otherwise, what is reading for? :)