7 Stages of Book Addiction (The Sempiternal Reader Version)

Tuesday, April 01, 2014 by Andrea 5 Comments A⁺ a^-

Hello Internet (sound familiar?)! I posted my 2014 Summer Reading List a week ago and it really did help a lot. The thing is, with every book I finish, I end up either feeling “Meh. I’ve seen better. But, it’s okay, I guess.” Or (most of the time) I’ll end up curling in the corner spiraling into depression because it’s over.
There is no in-between.

And this usually happens Every. Single. Time.

And that leads us to this. I made some kind of meter that’ll measure just how deep you are into the dangerous waters of a fandom. Before I start this, please be reminded that I am perfectly sane and that I don’t need mental assistance and that all of this is perfectly normal (I think). =)

1. Stepping into the Shore

Ahh. The first stage. These are those moments when you’re prepped up on your favorite reading position in your comfy little corner of reading. You take a deep breath as the first chapter begins. First, you’ll probably go “Oh, the main character’s some kind of criminal. Psh, that’s a bit cliché.”

2. Ankle-Deep

This is the time when you start getting into the story. You still put the book down to eat and go to the bathroom for a pee break, but you’re slowly getting hooked to the story. “Oh, he’s a criminal mastermind who’s twelve years old! And he has.. what’s this? A butler!”

3. Knee-Deep

Nope, no more pee breaks. You start bringing the book to the table. You begin to notice the author’s writing style and you start to slowly get attached to the characters. Turn baaack! Turn back while you still can! “She punched him? Ugh, how could she! He’s an amazing person who happens to have a little bit of attitude problem! He’s a misunderstood soul!”

4. Thigh-Deep

This is it. No more turning back. “Welcome to the fandom, buddy!” A shark greets in that evil tone sharks have. There are the times when you start to read the book more closely. You’re oblivious to what’s happening outside of the book (Psh, who cares if there’s an earthquake? The little fairy needs to find away to escape from the huge manor!).

5. Waters up to your Waist

This is when the real symptoms begin. You find yourself daydreaming about what might happen next, you have to use force to push yourself to put the book down and eat, you stay up late at night to read until your mom finally closes the lights. You’re in the fandom, and the fangir/fanboy life is starting to grow on you.

6. Just a Little Bit More

Drowning… slowly but surely drowning into the fandom. You didn’t choose the fangirl/fanboy life, it chose you. You try to scout friends to read the book too and join the fandom. You go to websites about the fandom, you start joining roleplays, and everything is starting to eat you alive.

7. Deep, Deep, into the Fandom Waters

Congratulations buddy! You’re officially deep into the Fandom waters. When the book/series ends, you start to spiral into depression. It’ll take about a week or two for recovery, plus a few days to swim back to the shore of reality. After that, you pick up a new book and then start from the first stage once again.

Aaaand that’s iiit! I had absolute fun while writing this and for those of you who didn’t notice the book references I used was from the first book of the Artemis Fowl Series. =D

So, how deep are you in the waters of your fandoms? Share it down on the comments below and together we will face those dangerous waters and swim back to shore just for the fun of it. =)

The Sempiternal Reader,

Andrea

5 comments

Write comments

Sarah

AUTHOR

2 April 2014 at 22:31 delete

lol, loved this post! :)
Right now, I would probably say I've recently swum back to the shore of reality out of Panema and wherever Divergent is set. Dystopian Chicago I think? xD Is there a stage for when you love a book so much that you never really give it up? You never really swim back? Cause I'm probably there for most of my books. Maybe that's number seven...

11 April 2014 at 09:54 delete

Thank you! I'm almost always at number 7 too. And I have a hard time swimming back to shore! =) And even though we go back to the shore, the memories of the previous place will always be there. So, it's not really 'leaving'. =)) Again, thanks for reading this! =D