Over-Readers Anonymous

My name is Sarah G, and I'm an over-reader. I have been an over-reader since I had my first blessed, lurid taste of reading. I remember in vivid detail driving down Blanding Boulevard (between the Dunkin Donuts and the High School) in my family Toyota mini-van, realizing I could read the passing sign-age, and not being able to stop myself from reading every single one. In fact, I remember commenting to Sisters in said mini-van, "Now that I can read the signs, I see words and reading everywhere!"

I am the kind of compulsive over-reader who will read anything and everything. On Wednesday, I read the junk mail, all the way down to which items are excluded from This Weekend Only Sale at Westlake Ace Hardware. I don't just read the back of cereal boxes, I read all 6 sides of the cereal box. A few weeks ago I found myself calling my Sister with Kidney disease - "Hey, Sister. I was just in the bathroom and reading the back of my Dove deodorant. It says people with kidney disease should consult their physicians before using deodorant products. Just thought you'd like to know." I have stopped several times to read the historical marker attached to the side of the crappy mid-century building on the corner now serving as a law office - a firefighter was killed here in 1964? Huh, who knew? I read the entire instruction booklet that came with my two speed desk fan- and tried to decipher the French and Dutch as well.

But books have always been my literature of choice- lately, contemporary literary fiction. The library is my biggest trigger. I rarely go looking for a particular book. I walk around the library and pick out books at random. If the flap description looks interesting, into my basket it goes. I have to limit these library trips to once a month. When I get home, I gorge, no, binge, on library books. When I'm on a binge, I will read every waking second of the day. I will finish a book, close the cover, pick up the nearest next book, and begin reading. I, who never stays out late drinking because I like to go to bed at a decent hour, will stay awake until 2am reading- even if I'm re-reading Ramona Quimby Age 8 for the 10th time. Within three days, I have to push the books to one side of the bed to sleep at night. Prime selections from my own collection and those from my friends', lover's, and housemates' mix with the library books to form Sarah G's Bed of Binding (and not the kinky kind). When I'm coming down off finishing a good book, I get sad and cranky- sometimes for days.

I suppose if I inherited some addictive tendencies from the rich Irish bloodlines, over-reading can't be the worst.