I've heard people say they're in a "reading slump", where they just can't seem to pick up a book and get back into the swing of reading. I've been there. For about a year after college, I couldn't force myself to read a thing. Regardless of my slump, my compulsion to purchase books never dwindled. I would literally buy stacks of books and continue to stock my eBook library. Eventually, the slump died.
Book ADHD is the spastic answer to the reading slump. One does not necessarily follow the other, either. In fact, I wasn't in a slump before my BADHD set in this go around.
BADHD is what I call the phenomenon of being super excited about dozens of books to the point where, against better judgement, a person starts reading multiple books. When I say multiple books, I don't mean 2 or 3. I'm talking 14-26. It's absolutely uncontrollable. You just feel compelled to start reading another book. The other books aren't abandoned, they're just neglected. This is what brings on the guilt.
Not reading, abandoning or neglecting books are all bad juju. It's a 300 page, heavy drag on your soul. Multiply that with the number of books of someone suffering from BADHD and you find someone, like me, who is super excited about all things textual, yet absolutely depressed by the sheer number of pages weighing down on her soul.
I'm currently still in the denial phase: I can read them all. I will read them all. In fact, I'll read them all soon, so I can buy these 10 new titles and borrow this set from the library! *twitch*
The only recovery from BADHD is acceptance that it is impossible to read such an absurd amount of books at one time. I'm aware I have to choose 2 or 3 and power through them without the distraction of The List of Books I've started... I just haven't found the willpower to let go of the other books, even if it's just for a little while!
So, if you have a reader in your life, or you, yourself, are a reader, please take this as a warning: BADHD exists. Temper your excitement and hold tight onto your willpower. ONE BOOK AT A TIME! (Ok, or 2... Or 3...)
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