Stop the insanity!

Okay, I have a problem. I can't stop reading. I mean, I can't stop reading everything at once.

I am reading five books at the moment. Skippy Dies, Moby Dick, A Short History of Women, The Girl Who Played With Fire and 84, Charring Cross Road. And it's annoying. I can't get myself to focus on one. I try to. I carry around one book at a time and plan to read it during my lunch break. But then at some point before lunch I'll inevitably get inspired to start reading another one. I'll make little bargains with myself: Okay, self, you can start this one but only after you finish Skippy Dies and eat your vegetables. That lasts for about one day. And it has nothing to do with the quality of Skippy Dies. There are just too many great books out there. They're coming out every week. And then there are great books that came out 50 years ago. 100 years ago. Four years ago. Fiction! Non-fiction! Ahhhh! I can't take it. I think I need a week off just to finish one book.

And then there is the pile of books I mean to read. That pile by my bed that has turned into two piles and then had to be moved into the office. And finally they just go onto a bookcase. A whole bookcase of amazing books that I want to read, that I promised myself I'd read two years ago. That I am GOING to read.

I don't think I'm alone here. I've heard others complain of the same thing. But I am getting pretty fed up with myself. This is no way to live. I'll make one promise to myself right now: I won't start another book today. I think I can do that... Maybe.