Readers Anonymous

[Snukes]

As suggested by mono, it is apparently high time to start a 12-step program of our own! The first step to healing is admitting you have a problem, and we're already doing a fine job of that. So come on in, one and all. Readers Anonymous is here for you. We'll put together a program which will help all participants return to life as normal, functional human beings. No longer will we be slaves to our paperbacks, hardbacks, and etexts! We can return to the television-watching, blow-things-up-computer-game-playing throngs of the healthy world population!

So help me brainstorm! What are our twelve steps? The first is a given:

Take Den's Literature Abuse Quiz to find out if you have a problem.

Then perhaps we need to arrange some meetings to talk about our feelings.

Somewhere in the list (probably toward the end, hm?) we'll arrange a big group book burning.

Other steps?

(disclaimer in advance of being misunderstood...: I am, of course, being silly and in no way actually advocate book burning... :cool:)

[Jay]

Make sure there's no book burning and I might consider joining :D... unless it's textbooks, of course, I would gladly see phonetics in ashes :lol:

[kilted exile]

On the topic of burning, I have plans to burn 3 years worth of college notes on August 15th (day after course finishes)

[Scheherazade]

I can't bring myself to burn any books but when I graduated from highschool I made paper planes using the pages of my Agriculture book (yes, I had to take Agriculture for 3 years!) and sent them off from the roof of our house!

[Koa]

I tore in pieces every single page of my Maths notebooks the afternoon just after my final high school exam. Been waiting for that moment for years, and it's one of the nicest memories I have :D After 13 years of suffering, Maths was out of my life!!!
The books remained intact just becauuse I was planning of selling them to younger students :) Though I kept the books of literature and stuff I liked.

As for reading addiction, I wish i was back at it... Been reading so little in these past 3-4 years... :(

[baddad]

HI, my name is Baddad....and I'm a readaholic. It started when I first learned how to spell. I realized my reading habit was getting out of control, getting really extreme in fact, when Papayahed once commented that she would read a cereal box if nothing else was available......and I found myself wondering what was printed on the box, and if she would print it out for me...
*readaholic mantra: "Ommmm...burnthebook...Ommmmm...burnthebook..."*

[Keltic Banshee]

Well... i guess I will have to admit that i'm a readaholic as well... I learnt to read when i was two and a half, and spent my first week night awake reading when i was 11... and it was followed by many, many, many more in the following years...
The good point of being a readaholic is that it helped me quit smoking... I had to choose between using money for books or cigarrettes... and obviously i decided to spend it on books...

See you all,
Keltic Banshee

[Nightshade]

My name is Nightshade Like Papayhed I will read anything from cereal boxes to medicine instructions to the dictionary.
I have been told this is serious and if I dont stop I will end up in a mental instituion for sure.

:lol:
I dont think book burning is the solution bit extreme isnt it anyway I could still readthe signs in the street!
How about starting off with disscovering howw bad a readaholic everyone is ie How many books a day cant you survive without?

[Jay]

I like the word 'readaholic' :p... getting in the state of drunkness by reading books (or anything handy ;))

[mono]

*deep breath, clenching hands together nervously

My name is Mono, and I also consider myself a readaholic. During my relatively small amounts of spare time, I cannot help but find a book in my hands (fiction, poetry, non-fiction, biography, textbooks, and even food labels, caution statements on electronic devices, and . . . *sigh, Internet articles and forums). Even while I sit at my computer, within reach lie two books: Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immortal Poems of the English Language, edited by Oscar Williams. Furthermore, if I lived a suddenly poverty-stricken life, I would sell my bed mattresses before my library.
Ugh.

[Jay]

Welcome, readaholic Mono!

Ever heard of Brave New World and conditioning? :D

[papayahed]

HI, my name is Baddad....and I'm a readaholic. It started when I first learned how to spell. I realized my reading habit was getting out of control, getting really extreme in fact, when Papayahed once commented that she would read a cereal box if nothing else was available......and I found myself wondering what was printed on the box, and if she would print it out for me...
*readaholic mantra: "Ommmm...burnthebook...Ommmmm...burnthebook..."*



What's your fax #?

[Nightshade]

:confused:
What's your fax #?

huh???

[papayahed]

So I can send over the copy of the cereal box

[Rachy]

I definately read too much! I find I'm lost if I don't have my book in my hand. I walk around the house with it, no matter where I'm going, and I take it in the car even if the ride is only 5 mins! I can't help it. I need a book with me! :( Bit sad really!

[Nightshade]

huh! I walked to school once while reading got yelled at by friends to watch out where I was going or Id hit a car so now ususlly only do that if Im with someone who I can latch onto and rely to steer me past obsticles.

[Rachy]

Lol. Awww. I've done that, but got hit by a ball not a car, so I try not to anymore!

[Nightshade]

Does it have to be 12 steps?? cant it be nine or seven?
Anyway so far we have what 2?
1-Take Den Literture abuse test
2- Accept that you have a problem
3- Talk about your 'habit' ;)
4a- Burn books?
4b-get the number of books a day down (by book burning??)
we have more steps than I thought

[Snukes]

It HAS to have 12 steps! That's critical for it to be a successful 12-step program!!

The number 12 step can be a group hug! That should do nicely. And book burning shouldn't be #4. It should come later, after most of the desperation is gone. Maybe #9 or 10... (And I think burning text books is good enough... no need to burn the good stuff.)

OOOOR! Instead, maybe people could work rotations in a book store on the days when the paperbacks have to have their covers torn off. That's a depressing job, but at least it's putting the destruction of books to good use! (And mostly you get to do Harlequins and the like. :D)

My name is Snukes, and although I have a problem, I'm currently suffering through a temporary recovery. My dependency can't be as bad as I thought, as I've managed to stick to the "no new books may be started until thesis is 100% drafted" rule without breaking into any nervous sweats or unexpected gales of tears.

However, I think I'll need to stick around and finish out my 12 steps, since I can feel a panic-driven need to recover for this wasteful bit of literary abstinence as soon as I get the chance...

[Jay]

Me so not destroying a book other than maybe a textbook! No, no game :D
geez, destroying a book while I have troubles even opening a paperback all the way in order not to break the back, lol

[papayahed]

Maybe if we just burned stuff like Harlequin romances?

[Nightshade]

0h dear I but it as 4a as it is still in question maybe we should just skip that step. surley if we succeed we would not need to burn books??

[Koa]

I used to be a readaholic. I used to read everything including cereal box and washing powder cans, and that's also how my biggest passion, languages, developed...I still read the ingredients in all the languages and get all excited if a particularly exotic one is there. I've never read more than one book at once but during my first 15 years of life (well since the age of four and a half when I learnt to read) I could read up to 4 or 5 per week... and re-read the same ones many times. I used to calculate amounts of money in 'how many books and cds could I buy with it'.

And then... i don't know. I started to avoid reading when school is involved. That is, I only read stuff for school which i dont consider reading (if it's essays...if it's novels, then it's reading even if it's for study purposes). That's because I would find myself reading stuff for fun and neglecting shool work. Lately I've been reading some stuff in more relaxed school periods, but the sad truth is, even when i have free time, I end up not spending it all in reading... and the internet is the main reason of it. I'm internetholic.
Even on the bus lately I prefer to listen to music rather than reading, it relaxes me more, it's easier when the bus is packed and you need a balance, and I can do it also on the way back if my eyes are tired.
I've resumed reading addiction for some short periods like for example some 3 weeks last summer, and it felt so good. It had been ages since I last read something that caught me a lot, also because in these years my ability of concentration seems to be gone. I realised in these days that my mind won't be free before next December at least, so I will have to cut some space for reading within a lot of other stuff and thoughts...which is not the same as the relaxed, absorbing way of reading I used to have.

So how do you get out of readingholicness? Just get another time-consuming addiction like the internet, and get your brain cells to die one by one. Then you'll be healed and probably won't relapse even if you try.

[Nightshade]

Well I never read or enjoy reading somthing I have to read for school. It just spoils it somehow! Actually thats not true I rather enjoy Keats and Pamels by Samuel Richardson wasnt that bad ( then again I choose that book)
I havent finished reading Othello yet and the exams in a week and a half!
When I dont have time to concentrate I read whta my mother calls soppy rubbish ( chick- books) amusing and they take hardly any concentration!
Also I dont think killing off brain cells is quite the kind of step we are looking for!! ;) :lol:

[Taliesin]

Hello.
Our name is Taliesin and we are a readaholic.
We heard of this program in a IQ loss camp (similar to a weight-losing camp, when you feel that your too big oversized IQ is giving you problems, it is a great solution, you get stars and stuff for losing IQ)
We hope that this program here can help us out of our terrible habit of reading.

[Nightshade]

humm Ok Tailsin Why do you feel that reading is terrible?
Is it because it has left you bankrupt and about to face the world without preparation Like yours truley? Has it destroyed your life, your hopes your dreams? ;)

[Scheherazade]

*will join the RA on Monday*

;)

[baddad]

......Furthermore, if I lived a suddenly poverty-stricken life, I would sell my bed mattresses before my library......


....amen brother......know that you are not alone..... ( :

[faith]

I'm definitely a readaholic! But I'm not gonna admit I read too much! But I do read a lot indeed. I'm just crazy about books. I write down the author, titel, amount of pages and the day/days I read the book... Have done this since summer of 2000! AND since last spring I have written a review on most books I read in a Swedish bookforum. I don't think I will ever be able to stop doing any of this! And anyway, last month I read 16 books and 5272 pages, and counted them... Well, well, well..., and now on top of all I'm wanting to study literature at the university next fall.

[Jay]

*will join the RA on Monday*

;)
Would it be THIS Monday (ie today :p) or a Monday 100 years in the future? :p

[Keltic Banshee]

Well... after reading four books and a half in the last three days... I think I should definitely consider myself a readaholic... and what's worse... proud of it and not on the mood for trying to quit! :p So... I think I'm a lost cause... Any ideas for cases like me?

Wish you all the best,

Keltic Banshee

[Nightshade]

just keep reading!

[Keltic Banshee]

Well... I wouldn't mind to keep on reading... but.. where do I apply for subsidies to buy my books? :D It's an expensive activity... way too expensive sometimes

Wish you all the best,
Keltic Banshee

[Helga]

I don't think I have a problem....denial,denial,denial....nope, no problem!

[Bongitybongbong]

i left the forum a little while ago to read alot of books and stuff

[Nightshade]

Dear RA,
I have an admition to make. Today I visited my grandmother and the first thing I did ( well after everything else I did) was to ransak her cubords/ shelves nad bedside lockeer for books. I then proceeded to read an entire book between 3 & 5 pm.

---------------------------- the completly unashamed confessor,
Night

[Nightshade]

I .like this thread soo

BUMP

[starrwriter]

Is there a Writers Anonymous? Someone please stop the madness before I write again.

[Pensive]

I like reading and I wish that I will keep on reading because reading gives me pleasure. :D

[bibliophile190]

Oh, dear, I answered yes to every single one except for re-writing tv dialogue.

Well, I suppose I should get this over with. Hello, my name is Bibliophile, and I'm, well,..........a bibliophile, or a readaholic. I can not go through a day without reading. When school is in session, I always have a book in my hand, and often read during class(quite unnoticably, though, so I don't get in trouble). I always need a book near at hand, or I can't feel comfortable. If I could get paid for reading books, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[BibliophileTRJ]

The first is a given:

Take Den's Literature Abuse Quiz to find out if you have a problem.



Where do I find said quiz?!?

I'm such a read-aholic the it gets me in trouble with my partner..... a few months ago I was engrossed in a book and didn't notice that he was in an amorous mood.... he actually did a strip-tease in order to entice me into the boudoir..... by the time I finished the chapter I was reading he was in a snit and in bed covered chin to ankles in pajamas and NOT speaking to me.


God grant me the serenity
to accept the books I cannot read;
courage to read the books I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Reading one book at a time;
Enjoying one chapter at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to plot development;
Taking, as The Author did, this sinful novel
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that The Author will make all things right
if I surrender to His/Her plot;
That I may be reasonably happy with this novel
and supremely happy with The Author
Forever in the next.
Amen.

[Scheherazade]

Where do I find said quiz?!?Here. (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1376) :)

[BibliophileTRJ]

Thank you, Scheherazade, my dear.


If you answered 'yes' to five or more of these questions, you may be a literature abuser.

I answered "no" to less than five questions..... I'm going to have to check myself into the nearest Lit-ReHab. SOON.

[Niamh]

okay i must be a hopeless case cause i said yes to 23 of them!:lol:

[BibliophileTRJ]

okay i must be a hopeless case cause i said yes to 23 of them!:lol:

Maybe we'll be roomies at rehab.......

[Niamh]

Maybe we'll be roomies at rehab.......
your on!;) but if you discover books....dont look at me!!!!!:p

[BibliophileTRJ]

your on!;) but if you discover books....dont look at me!!!!!:p

I DON'T WANT TO KNOW how you plan to smuggle them in.....
(bit of advice.... go with paperbacks....the pointy corners of hardcovers make retrieving them painful) :blush:

[Niamh]

I DON'T WANT TO KNOW how you plan to smuggle them in.....
(bit of advice.... go with paperbacks....the pointy corners of hardcovers make retrieving them painful) :blush:
:lol: I'm NOT going to ask how you know that!:lol: I was thinking of hiding them behind a bush before going in, then when everyones asleep, sneak out the window and smuggle them in!:p

[bibliophile190]

:lol: I'm NOT going to ask how you know that!:lol: I was thinking of hiding them behind a bush before going in, then when everyones asleep, sneak out the window and smuggle them in!:p





Sadly, I'm probably beyond hope having answered yes to everyone one of them, except one, so there probably won't be windows where I'm staying, just lots of padded walls. I suppose I could rip a hole in the padding with my teeth, and stick books in there, but I just had work done on them.........Oh, the trials and tribulations of a bibliophile.

[Niamh]

so i decide to book myself back into Litnetters anon. My book adiction is getting bad again!:blush:

[LadyWentworth]

I think I would have to be admitted just for the amount of books that I buy. I never get the time to really sit down and read them like I used to. So I never get the opportunity to catch up. Yet, I want more and more and more books. I really need a place to cure me of my insatiable need to keep obtaining more books! I think if I could be locked up somewhere and made to go through withdrawl, there might be hope for my recovery! :)

[Niamh]

So seeing as my other roomy as set sail around the world, wanna be roomies? I'll let you in on all the good hiding spaces!:p (not to mention the secret computer with online-lit access!:D

[LadyWentworth]

Sure! Why not? Especially since you have the "goods"!
(the computer! :p )

[Niamh]

:brow: not to mention the chocolate!:p

[Lily Adams]

Hello my name is Lily Adams and I am a readaholic...among many other "holics".

I'm reading six books simultaneously at the moment. It's been cutting me off from the normal excessive reality TV viewing and texting. I really believe I have a problem. Please help. :rolleyes:

[LadyWentworth]

:brow: not to mention the chocolate!:p
Oh, yes, excellent! :D Of course, wouldn't it be naughty of us to try to go through withdrawal off of one thing while we are still devouring something that could produce another addiction in its place?? Then again, if we could keep it under control, this would be our little secret! :p Nobody would have to know!!! ;)

[Niamh]

Oh, yes, excellent! :D Of course, wouldn't it be naughty of us to try to go through withdrawal off of one thing while we are still devouring something that could produce another addiction in its place?? Then again, if we could keep it under control, this would be our little secret! :p Nobody would have to know!!! ;)

:brow: Excellent!