Are You a Compulsive Reader?

On reading lots and lots.

#bornthisway. Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

If you’re on Medium, you read. You probably read often. Doubtless, you have been told that reading is a good thing. Maybe even a great thing.

It is.

Let me be the first compulsive reader to tell you that there is no such thing as too much reading (if you’ve met any compulsive readers, then you’ve heard this line before).

There’s a handful of things we compulsive readers have in common.

• Guilt for not rating content 5-stars.
• Passion for paperback (it’s the smell).
• Righteous indignation toward book-haters.
• Opinions on dog-ears.
• Kindle Unlimited subscriptions.
• Audible subscriptions.
• Opinions on literary “classics.”
• Aversion to sharing opinions with anyone except other compulsive readers (you have to read lots to ‘get it’).
• Amazon Prime subscriptions (less time shopping = more time reading).
• Blacklists of at least a dozen reads you’d only recommend to your besties, and not in polite company.

If you share 90% of these traits, chances are you’re a compulsive reader.

First off, welcome to the club. You’re in good company.

Also, here’s a bouquet.

They’re roses. GIve em’ a sniff. Photo by María Castillo on Unsplash

We roam the urban jungle in force.

When you encounter another compulsive reader in the wild, it can be liberating.

Ah, gratitude — mine brethren approaches.

Here’s a handful of signs that you’ve met another compulsive reader.

• Book. They’re holding one.
• They've sent you this article.
• Bookworm pins (worms wearing glasses).
• A library card and/or an active Goodreads.
• Cats, plural.
• Ownership of a dedicated library.
• Grammatical correctness.
• A Kindle Fire (or even better, a Nook).
• Mild interest in the occult.
• They’re engaged in story-related conversation.

Embrace them. They are the only person who understands you.

It’s a big, wordy world out there.

…

Might as well make the best of it.