Mountain to Mohammed

So long as I don't cross the threshold of a bookstore, I can avoid buying books. But it's an affliction many bookbuyers/readers know about. You see a row of books on a shelf, you are drawn to it. Even at friends' houses, you'll find yourself wondering where their stack of books are, feeling terrible for those that don't have any reading material whatsoever.

Over the last month, I've bought waaaaay too many books. I had that stash on Feb 28 from Fully Booked to celebrate my birthday month, then I ended up at A Different Bookstore two weeks ago and ended up buying 4 books, followed by two accidental (ehem) stops into Booksale and other bookbin places.

Then today, I caved. Over the last three days, National, Powerbooks and Fully Booked had stalls at school. There they were, like mermaids calling to sailor soul. I had managed to avoid even looking at the heaps of books for the first two days of the bookfair. But I didn't have any resistance left today. I found two books, one by Jan Morris and another by Frances Mayle, both on travel. Darn it. All around me teachers were also picking their way through the tables, moaning how they could avoid buying clothes, but not books. Oh well, I guess I wasn't the only one in this boat.