Book Dilemma

I have a problem. I KNOW about this problem, have talked about this problem, but still have almost no desire to fix this problem...

In fact, part of the reason I started this blog was because of this problem. :)

I am talking about my book addiction.

A lot of the time, my book hoarding makes no sense. I have at least 100 books that I haven't read, sitting on my small bookshelf next to my bed, waiting for me to pick them up. But I still insist on wanting to buy more. If I go into ANY store for ANY reason and they have a table, shelf, or display of books, I stop to browse. Brayden's teachers pull him aside to make sure that the Scholastic Book Order forms got home if I haven't sent it back within a few days of getting them (so far, my orders have been sitting in Brayden's backpack, forgotten to be handed in until this teacher reminder, which I totally appreciate)... Yup. I have a reputation.

The book dilemma of today is one that my FB friends probably already know about. I found out about a new Jodi Picoult book coming out a few days ago (today is the release date) called The Storyteller. I loved the description and am anxious to read it... but then I realized that the book is coming out in Hardcover today. I forgot that Picoult books came out in hardcover first, because when I started my bookstore employment, she wasn't popular enough to sell $40 hardcover books, and I have only ever read her stuff in Trade Paper covers. So I forgot.

Now, here are my options...

1) Buy the hardcover... I'm not really a fan of this option. I dislike hardcovers. They are not really read-in-bed friendly. Too heavy. Too big. Too awkward.... and to a point, too expensive as well.

2) Buy the ebook... this is cheaper, but how likely is it that I will read it, love it, and end up buying the Trade Paper book 9 months down the road anyway? I wanted the ereader for library books for this exact reason, because I will read the books for free and then buy the books I like later. But I don't want to buy the book TWICE. Guh... which leads me to...

3) Wait for the Trade Paper copy to come out... But that is SO far away! I want to read it NOW. And what if I forget about it? Then I will never get to read it! That's why it's important to buy books right away and leave them on a shelf for years until you feel like reading that particular book. Or you've developed so much book debt that you can't afford to buy any more books. Then you will have a bunch of titles to choose from, and they were probably bought for a few dollars cheaper because of inflation and stuff compared to if you had waited and bought it when you could read it right then....

And 4) Sit here writing a blog post about deciding whether to buy a book while and then realize that it's not really even a problem compared to, say, people starving in Africa... then feel a bit petty and stupid... then realize that it doesn't really help you decide whether to buy this book or not... but no matter what happens, it really doesn't matter...

Wow... perspective can really take the wind out of your sails sometimes, eh?