Inside my local library in Montclair, New Jersey. (Photo by me.)

You know you’re a book addict when…

…despite a broken big toe, you make a hobbling visit to the library to borrow a new bunch of novels. (Which I did on June 13.)

…you read while waiting in line (at a store, the post office, etc.) even though you might be also holding something else (a purchase, a package, etc.).

…you uncomfortably grasp a large hardcover to read while on an exercise bike.

…you read even if you’re in a room with poor lighting.

…you read while a passenger in a car even though that makes you feel kind of sick.

…you bring a novel to a doctor’s appointment and are almost disappointed on the rare occasion when you’re summoned from the waiting room on time.

…you try to read in an eye doctor’s waiting room after your pupils have been dilated.

…you read almost as much as you usually do despite an eye infection. (Happened to me last year.)

…you read a novel while watching something on YouTube even though splitting one’s attention in half is not wise, so you only do this for a little while.

…you know the year of birth for many novelists.

…you know the year of death for many novelists. (I don’t think this includes living authors, but I’ll ask the supposed psychic in Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment novel. 🙂 )

…your brain practically breaks when you’re forced to reduce your book collection by two-thirds because of moving from a house to an apartment. (As I did in 2014.)

…you’re upset when a screen adaptation doesn’t do a novel justice.

…you exult when a screen adaptation DOES do a novel justice.

…you’re chagrined on the rare occasion when a screen adaptation is better than the book(s) it’s based on.

…you continue reading a compelling novel late at night even though you’re tired and should go to sleep.

…you delay posting on your literature blog for an hour or two because you’re so engrossed in a book.

Any additions or comments? 🙂

Last-minute postscript, after last night’s disgusting/dangerous/unprovoked bombing of Iran by the United States: You know you’re a book addict when you wish Trump and the officials in his administration were also avid novel readers — which would perhaps give them a bit more empathy, decency, common sense, and historical knowledge. Actually, perhaps not. 😦

Misty the cat says: “I’ve used an inhaler since 2018, a year after asthma was invented.”

My comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Misty says Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )

This 90-second promo video for my book features a talking cat: 🙂

I’m also the author of a 2017 literary-trivia book…

…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — which includes an election postmortem, discussion of a large local “No Kings” protest against the Trump regime, and more — is here.