I admit it…I’m an addict.

Now, don’t be thinking bad things about me just yet. I admit I’m an addict, but at least it’s an addiction that isn’t necessarily harmful to my health. What am I addicted to? Books. Yes my friends, my addiction is to books.

This addiction started at a young age, and I happily put some of the blame on my parents who encouraged my addiction. I was bought lots of print books and read like mad, easily finishing a book a night. Of course, at that age, the books had big print and not that many pages, but it still meant that a lot of paperbacks went in and out of my bedroom. As I got older, I started buying different kinds of books, but the frequency didn’t slow down. In fact, I’m ashamed to say, it increased and and quickly surpassed my ability to actually read the books I purchased. Did that slow down my purchasing? Heck, no. I have many books in my house that I bought with the best of intentions…and that I still haven’t gotten around to reading. Yet I keep them, hoping that someday I will find the spare time.

Of course with print books, there’s a limitation forced on an addict that’s not necessarily easy to change. Physical space. When the books start to pile up on the floor as the bookshelves fill up, at a certain point it’s just not physically possible to bring in more books without getting rid of some. I mean, who wants to share their bed with piles of books that no longer fit on the bookshelves or on the floor? Not I…

Then a few years ago something happened to greatly intensify my addiction. I discovered ebooks. What a brilliant concept!! I can buy books to my heart’s content and not have to worry about bookshelves that are going to crack under the combined weight of too many books. Perfect! Or is it?

My addiction now has a direct feed of instant gratification, and thanks to the click of just a few buttons I can download numerous ebooks to my computer. I don’t have to worry about bookshelf space (though hard drive space might become an issue at some point) and I don’t even have to leave the house to do my shopping!

What is the end result of this? I now have a TBR list that has exploded past the point of being at all logical. I have more ebooks than I could possibly read in a lifetime, and am constantly adding books to the pile. It’s too easy to buy ebooks and then never get around to reading them! I see interesting blurbs, I get intrigued by a sexy cover, I read a review that peaks my interest and I go buy. I never give a thought to the hundreds and hundreds (and I’m not exaggerating here) of ebooks languishing on my TBR list.

I can admit my addiction, but I haven’t yet found a way to curb it. Despite knowing that I have more than enough to read, I keep finding new ebooks that I just have to purchase, that I just have to read. It’s getting to the point where I forget what I actually own, because I have so many ebooks!

Am I the only one afflicted with this addiction? Do other readers find it hard to resist the lure of new ebooks? Has anyone successfully beaten their TBR list into submission and gotten their addiction under control? Do you have any words of wisdom to a fellow addict?