i am neurotic.

I refuse to read the book Marley and Me because I know that the author is eventually going to write about the dog’s death and I’ll cry. Even though I work in a veterinary office and deal with the death of pets on a regular basis, I refuse to read the book because I want to save myself the heartbreak.

If I receive a book either from the library or the store, I am always compelled to smell it before I read it. Recently this compulsion has spread to CD liner notes.

When I’m reading a good book and I know something bad or really sad is going to happen to the main character, I close the book and never finish it.

If I start a book, I have to finish it, even if it’s a terrible book and I hate it. I also can’t start any new books until I finish the book I’m currently reading. It’s as if the book will hate me and I will be a bad, bad person if I don’t remain monogamous to the book until the very end. I can’t leave a movie until the credits are finished, for the same reason.

I can’t read a used book. Books (hard or soft cover) can’t have a single blemish or bend on the cover. When a book is too used I’m too distracted to continue reading it.  I also cannot associate myself with people who dog ear pages.