The word bookworm, dating back to 1592, refers to “a person unusually devoted to reading,” according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. It also means the larva of any wood-boring insect that feeds on paper in books. We avid readers are indeed a special kind of tribe!
If you feel misunderstood for being a bookworm, rest assured there are many of us who share these traits:
#1 We can’t live without books. Period. Books are as essential as three squares a day. Need we say more?
#2 We don’t believe in reading breaks. We need a book or two to read every single day, year round. Who needs a break? Bathroom and lunch breaks, yes, absolutely, but no reading breaks for bookworms!
#3 Time spent waiting for anything or anybody means extra reading time. We always have a book at hand, so it doesn’t matter whether we have to wait for 15 minutes in line at Rite Aid or two hours at the DMV.
#4 Airports and airplanes are meant for reading. Without books, there’s bound to be at least one bookworm guilty of air rage, like, every single day. Trust us, there are not enough air marshals for such a crisis.
#5 We have book crushes and book friends. Hey, a girl can dream of Mr. Darcy and still consider Lizzie Bennet her best friend (and yes, we’ve earned the right to call her Lizzie instead of Elizabeth).
#6 We’re totally fine with sleep deprivation. Some books (and authors) leave us no choice but to cut down on sleep. We’re looking at you Gillian Flynn! You, too, James Patterson!
#7 We’re totally fine with missing a subway or bus stop (or missing a ride altogether). If it’s the only way we can squeeze in another chapter of “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” —so be it.
#8 Our travel bucket list is based on our favorite books. You’re going to Italy? Let me guess: Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” or E.M. Forster’s “A Room with a View”? It could also be Elena Ferrante. As for me, it was Forster.
#9 A perfect day consists of uninterrupted reading. A day of reading on the beach would be ideal, preferably somewhere in Hawaii. An afternoon curled up on the couch with the latest Jack Reacher book is acceptable, too. We bookworms are easy.
#10 We’re equal opportunity readers. E-books, hardcovers, paperbacks—they’re all the same to us. We won’t refuse an audiobook, either. The method of delivery is not as important as the content of Glennon Doyle Melton’s “Love Warrior.” It’s Oprah’s latest pick, y’all!
#11 Given a choice between a Barnes & Noble gift card and a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card…Why are you even asking? Yeah, we love coffee and donuts, but who needs all that extra calories? A bookworm will never say no to a bookstore gift card.
Read related stories about reading:
5 Tips: How to Read More Books You Like
Top 3 Reasons Why Thrillers are the Ultimate Comfort Reading
Just like Your Body, Your Mind Needs a Daily Workout
Why Do We Need Literature? There are 4 Unexpected Reasons
Almond, Vanilla, or Coffee? Let’s Talk about Old-Book Smell
(Photo by Vincent Fazzi, Folsom, Calif., 2015)
Cindy Fazzi 
angiedokos
/ January 25, 2017Reblogged this on Angie Dokos.
cindyfazzi
/ January 25, 2017Thanks, Angie!
shawneelynn
/ January 25, 2017Yes! This is 99.9% true for me. The 0.1% being the fact that yes, sometimes I do need a break from reading if only to take time to recover from or absorb the ending of the last book I read 🙂
cindyfazzi
/ January 25, 2017You have a point; I have to concede on that one!
mariasjostrand
/ January 26, 2017Or that feeling, when a book is so amazing, you actually have to close it for a second to really absorb it 🙂
shawneelynn
/ January 26, 2017Yesss! Definitely. I remember a point when I was reading Gone Girl, that I put the book down for a week or so to recover from being angry at a character that I was hoping was good.
mariasjostrand
/ January 26, 2017I can really recognise myself in almost all of these (except audio books. Don’t like them, never had. I read pretty fast, so I don’t have the patience for a more normal reading speed) 🙂
cindyfazzi
/ January 26, 2017I don’t use audio books, either. But a good friend of mine, a fellow bookworm, has resorted to audio books because she can do her chores while also “reading”! Thanks for stopping by, Maria!
mariasjostrand
/ January 26, 2017I did consider starting back when I had to take the car to work 🙂
Cherryl
/ May 23, 2017Couldn’t agree more 📚