How many of you have succumbed to reading into the hours of the morning thinking ‘just one page’, ‘just the end of the paragraph’, ‘to the end of this chapter’, only to find that at 2 o’clock in the morning you’re still reading, resulting in having to force yourself out of bed the next day, thoroughly unrefreshed and bleary eyed? As a child I was forever reading under the bed covers and it’s something that I never managed to completely ‘grow out of’. It remains a bit of a weakness of mine, and the morning after whilst fumbling around in my sleep deprived haze I always vow ‘never again’ – until the next time.

After giving into temptation yet again the other night with the current book love of my life – Lessons in Chemistry – I’ve realized that binge reading is like binge anything. You don’t savour what you’re devouring in the same way during a binge as you do when consuming it in more controlled parts. It’s just like when binging on chocolate or binging on a fine wine, you lose the ‘taste’ and mindful enjoyment of what you’re consuming. Am I ‘enjoying’ my book? Yes, that’s why I can’t stop reading it. But am I really getting the most enjoyment possible from my book? I don’t think so because I’m racing through it too quickly. I might even have to read it again to capture the nuances and finer scenes that my brain was too busy gobbling up the next word for it to properly paint the image in my mind and internalize what was written.

Although I am using the term ‘Reading Addiction’ as a slight exaggeration, it did make me wonder if such a condition really does exist? An addiction is characterised by obsessive thinking about what it is you are addicted to, indulging in your addiction to the extent of ignoring important life essentials such as eating, working/studying, sleeping, talking and interacting with people and sleeping, as well as using it as a form of escapism from the real word. Hmmmm, when I am really into a book I could be guilty of some of that. So, what separates the reading addict who lets their life go to ruins because of their reading and someone who simply loves to read? Well, I think that everyone on occasions deserves a little escapism and reading allows adults and children to experiment with different life situations, explore different realities, empathise with the characters of the book and see how real- life situations can be managed. For someone of any age going through a difficult stage of their lives, this can help them overcome their challenges and grow stronger because of them. Books promote empathy and acceptance of cultural diversity as they open up our world to that of other peoples who live different lives to that of the reader. Books allow one to dream and yes escape into an unreal world, allowing the reader’s brain to wander, imagine and visualise freely without boundaries. They also grow confidence as they learn new information or are simply able to better communicate and articulate via an improved vocabulary gained through reading.

Net, getting stuck into and taken over by a single book is not an addiction – it is a wholesome component of living a balanced life. A reading habit is a healthy one to have. However IF you ‘chain read’ with no gap between books to reflect on and savour them and IF you consistently read to the point of exclusion of everything else in your life, then you should re-evaluate your reading habits.

Personally whilst I can be a little obsessive when I get hooked into a particular book, it only very briefly takes over my life. Bearing in mind that I read and review hundreds of books as part of running Book & Toy (so we can bring you the best of the huge number of titles available), I definitely control when and how much I read – most of the time.

So what will I do the next evening I am tempted to just keep reading and reading until the early hours of the morning? I am determined to remind myself that binging isn’t good and that as hard as it is to put the book down right now, I’ll thank myself for it in the morning. After I’ve had a rest from its pages, I can go back ready to truly soak up and appreciate what the author took such a long time writing and perfecting.